


Unequivocal

by zanarkand



Series: Synergy [1]
Category: Digimon - All Media Types, Digimon Adventure Zero Two | Digimon Adventure 02
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, F/M, Family, M/M, Oral Sex, Original Character(s), Single Parents, Taito, The 02 end doesn't happen, Tri doesn't happen, Yama is a daddy, Yamachi, parenting, single dad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-21
Updated: 2016-10-21
Packaged: 2018-08-10 02:20:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 31,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7826425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zanarkand/pseuds/zanarkand
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Who knew a single drunken mistake could lead to a lifetime of consequences? Yamato sure didn't think so, but now he's got less than a year to figure out how to be a dad and he's not sure he can. Taito. AU for Tri.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. And She Said

**Author's Note:**

> Those who have read the majority of my other Digimon fics will know this isn't the sort of thing I usually write. However, it's always been a guilty pleasure of mine, so I finally bit the bullet and wrote one of my own. I wanted to note some things first, however.
> 
> One, if you've never read my other stuff, a long time ago I made up characters for Yamato's band for my fic _Waiting_. They are in this, in maybe two or three scenes. You don't need to know much about them or read the other fic.
> 
> Two, I tried to make things somewhat accurate regarding Japanese customs such as how the schools operate, taking your shoes off in a residence, etc, but the characters will very much have Western attitudes otherwise. I live in the States, and I figure the majority of readers will also have Western attitudes, so it would be the most relatable.
> 
> Three, I have a weird mix of British and American spelling. Sorry if this bugs you.
> 
> Four, chapter titles are all named after L'arc~en~ciel songs. There's no real reason for this. The song lyrics have nothing to do with the chapters.
> 
> Five, you'll notice both a lot of time skips in this, and that the Taito is somewhat incidental. This is because the fic would be _way_ too long if I went through every bit of Yamato's life throughout the pregnancy and the first year of the baby's life. As for the Taito, it's meant to be incidental, because it's not really what the fic is meant to be about. Which leads us to point six.
> 
> Six, before anyone even asks, _yes_ , there will be a sequel. I plan to make it this year's NaNo project. It will be set during Yamato and Taichi's first year of college, and get more into their relationship, as well as all of the difficulties of Yamato having to raise a kid while going to college and being in a band and a serious relationship. You'll also get to see more of the other characters' thoughts and feelings, instead of just Yamato's. I'll be planning it out while posting up this fic, as this one is already finished :D

"So what'd you need to talk about?" Yamato asks. He's standing in the cold on the roof of the school, hands shoved in his pockets to try and keep warm, and hoping Megumi talks fast. Overhead, the clouds are heavy and grey with snow, hiding the sun from sight and giving the afternoon a gloomy feel.

Megumi shivers and wraps her arms around herself. "I wanted to tell you this before the term ended for the holidays... I've been putting it off but today's the last day, so..." She pauses, and sighs, reaching a hand up to hook a few stray strands of dark hair behind her ear in a nervous gesture. "Yamato... I'm pregnant. Two months along." 

He starts and looks at her, the cold weather completely forgotten. "You are? You're sure...?" 

She nods and looks down at the ground, seemingly fascinated by it. There's some spilled soda that no one cleaned up, and it's become congealed and sticky. "Very sure. My doctor confirmed." 

"You think it's mine." 

"I know it's yours. There's been no one else but you." 

"Right..." he says faintly. He needs to sit. His knees feel weak all of a sudden. "Can we...?" he asks, gesturing towards the worn picnic tables off to the side. They're the only two people up here, the cold keeping everyone else inside. He wishes he was inside, joking and laughing with Taichi instead of out here with a girl he had no feelings for, learning he'd just fathered her child. 

"Yeah," she says agreeably. They sit and look at each other quietly for a moment. He fiddles with a splintered piece of wood on the side, wincing when he accidentally jabs his finger on it. He looks at the drop of blood welling up with a frown. She reaches her hand into her coat pocket and pulls out a clean tissue. 

"What do you want to do?" he asks eventually, wrapping the tissue around his finger. "About the baby, I mean." 

"I don't want to keep it," she says immediately. "I'm not prepared for a kid right now. I have plans. I want to finish school, go on to university... I like you, Yamato, but I don't want to settle down and I don't really want to date you or spend my life with you." 

"Same," Yamato mutters. 

"I was thinking of giving the kid up for adoption, but I wanted to give you the chance to be included in the process. It's your kid too, so if you want to help me find someone to adopt or you know someone that's been wanting a kid, I'd welcome the input. And if you'd rather have nothing to do with it, I'll find someone myself and not hold it against you." 

"Um..." His mind feels sluggish. It's too cold and he can't think about any of this right now. How is he supposed to know what he wants to do that fast? "Megumi... I'm glad you told me, but I need time to go home and think things over... I don't know what I want to do right now. Is that okay?" 

She smiles slightly. "Yeah, of course. I've had some time since finding out to think about it... it's only fair I give you the same. You still have my number?" 

"Um... yeah. It's in my cell." 

"Okay. Just give me a call when you decide. I should probably get back to class, lunch is almost over. Bye, Yamato." 

"Bye," he says absently, and sits there for a few moments after she's gone, paying no attention to the snow that starts to gently fall. Pregnant... He got a girl _pregnant_. His dad is going to kill him. 

* * *

When he gets home that evening after school and band practice, his dad is there, settled down in his red recliner, reading the newspaper. The recliner is old, the fabric worn through in several places, some of the stuffing poking out, and it doesn't match the rest of the furniture, but his dad loves it. Yamato can usually find him in it most nights. 

"I'm home," he says, hanging up his snow-soaked scarf and coat before trading his shoes for slippers. _I got a girl pregnant_ , he adds in his head, but he's not stupid enough to say it out loud. 

"Welcome home," his dad greets, looking up briefly with a tired smile. 

He wonders if his dad would yell, or punish him, or even kick him out. He gives his own tired smile in return and goes to his room. He sets his bag and guitar case down by his desk and immediately lays back on his bed, right on top of the blue comforter he loves, hands pillowed beneath his head, staring up at the spider-webbed cracks in the dirty white ceiling. 

He remembers the live where he and Megumi had met. She'd had front-row tickets and had stood there screaming and singing along the entire live, a happy smile on her flushed face. Afterwards, as he and the others had been packing up, she'd come backstage, greeting him shyly and asking if he needed any help. He'd taken it with a thanks, not even minding that she'd snuck past security to get there. 

He'd quickly caught on that she had a crush on him, but he'd figured just a few drinks couldn't hurt. How wrong he'd been. He still can't entirely remember how they'd gotten from the party they'd crashed to her apartment, in her uncomfortably feminine purple room. In her bed, with the equally uncomfortable purple sheets. The things she had been doing had felt nice, and had been a nice distraction from all the purple, but he really didn't like her that way. He'd woken the next morning with a pounding headache and a huge sense of regret. 

He sighs, thinking about everything. If only he had the courage to tell Taichi his feelings, maybe he never would have wound up with her that night. And now, now she's having a kid and he has to decide if he wants to be a part of that... 

A brief knock on his door breaks into his thoughts, and his dad pokes his head in his room, looking a little surprised to see Yamato just lying there. "I'm going to order some take-out," he says. "What would you like?" 

He's not hungry at all. The thought of food couldn't be any less appealing right now. He tries to think about what's on the take-out menus they have in the kitchen. "Whatever you want to order is fine," he finally says, giving up. "I'm not fussed." 

His dad nods and leaves him alone again. Yamato goes back to his thoughts. 

When the food arrives a little while later, he joins his dad in the kitchen, taking a seat at the table. His dad dishes out the food. "Let's eat," he says, and Yamato echoes him, mumbling it. He picks up his chopsticks and takes a bite. The pork, which he normally finds to be delicious, tastes like ash in his mouth. He swallows with a faint grimace and pushes the rest around with his chopsticks. 

He doesn't know what to do. Should he tell his dad? If Megumi gives the kid up for adoption, his dad doesn't ever have to know... But he doesn't know if he wants to be involved in the adoption or not. His dad might have advice on that. Or maybe his dad could help. If he didn't murder him first, that is. 

"Something on your mind?" 

"Huh?" He looks up from the food he'd been staring at and not seeing, the chopsticks stilling in his hand. 

"You seem distracted," his dad says, looking pointedly at the table next to his food. He realises he's pushed a piece of pork completely off his plate and on to the table, the sauce spilled in a small puddle around it. Oops. 

"Sorry..." he says, fumbling for a napkin and trying to wipe it up. The sauce is sticky, and the napkin just shreds on it. He sighs. "I'm just tired. I'm fine." 

"Well, if you need to talk about anything, I'm here." 

"I know. Thanks." He tries to take a bite of rice instead, thinking it might taste better, but it's bland and unappetising. He pushes the plate away. "Guess I'm just too tired to be hungry. I'll save this for tomorrow." 

"If that's what you want." His dad finishes up the last bites of his own meal, a concerned look on his face. 

"Yeah. Sorry." He gets up and grabs the take-out boxes, scraping his food back into them. He puts his plate in the sink and the boxes in the fridge, and grabs a wet cloth to wipe up his mess before retreating back to his room. 

* * *

He spends the first few days of winter hols trying to imagine different scenarios in his head. 

Scenario number one: Megumi gives up the baby for adoption and he doesn't get involved. He tells her he doesn't want to help, she deals with everything by herself, and he doesn't tell his dad, or his mom or brother or any of his friends. No one ever knows that somewhere out there, he's got a kid, a kid that doesn't know either of his real parents and will never meet him. His dad doesn't get mad at him, he doesn't get in trouble, and everybody's happy. He goes on with his life and settles down with someone and maybe someday adopts a kid of his own, pretending the first one doesn't exist. 

Scenario number two: Megumi gives up the baby for adoption and he _does_ get involved. He tells her he wants to help; they meet with potential parents and decide together who the best person to raise their child is. He could still not tell anybody if he wants. Or he could tell everyone and have his parents mad at him for awhile, but then help him in finding decent parents for the baby. He'll know who the parents are, so if the kid ever wants to meet him, or he wants to meet the kid, the possibility will be there. He still gets to go on with his life but he doesn't have to hide the truth. 

Those should be the only two scenarios. The second one seems better than the first, but when he thinks about either of them, they both feel as if he'll be ripping a hole in his heart that will never heal over. The first one even makes him feel a bit sick. But what other choice does he have? Either give the kid up and don't get involved, or give the kid up and be a part of it. 

Or... hidden scenario number three: Raise the baby himself. Don't give the baby up for adoption at all. Tell his parents, endure their wrath for awhile, and then plead for their help. Somehow figure out how to get through school while raising a baby. Have his son or daughter always in his life, knowing who their dad is, never left wondering what could have been... 

When he thinks about this, about keeping the baby, the idea doesn't make him feel so sick. 

The more he thinks about it over the next several days, the more he comes to the only possible conclusion for himself: he can't lose his child. No matter how hard it will be, he knows he can't entertain any thoughts other than keeping it and raising it. When he finally comes to this realisation, he feels lighter, and knows he's doing the right thing. 

He's able to celebrate the new year with his dad a little easier, and he can tell his dad is relieved to see him in better spirits. Both his dad and his friends could tell something was weighing on his mind over the last few days, but thankfully after a brief inquiry to see he was okay, they didn't press too hard. 

A few days before school is to start back, he texts Megumi. _I have decided... When can we meet?_

She replies back almost immediately. _Now is fine...Meet at Moumou in Aqua City? About an hour?_

_Okay. See you then._ That leaves him just enough time to get ready and walk there. 

* * *

He walks into the ice cream shop an hour later, looking around uncertainly as he pulls his gloves off. He doesn't see Megumi at first, and wonders if she decided not to come after all, when he spots her waving at him from a small table tucked in the corner. He waves back, acknowledging her, then goes up to the counter and orders a hot coffee. The weather is still pretty cold, and he's chilled from the walk. 

He takes his coffee from the girl behind the counter with a smile and goes over to Megumi. "Hi," he greets her, pulling out one of the metal blue chairs for himself. He pulls off his scarf and coat and sets it in the empty seat next to him, along with his gloves. 

She smiles, though it seems awkward. "Hi." 

He sips at his coffee, relishing the warmth that slides down his throat. He wonders if she'll be okay with his decision, if she'll agree to it. 

"So... you said you've decided?" she asks him softly, her brown eyes looking up at him inquisitively. 

He nods and takes another sip of his coffee nervously. "Yeah. I... I want to keep it. Raise it by myself. You wouldn't have any part of it, you would sign away your rights or whatever is required, it would be mine... I mean, if you're okay with that..." He realises he's babbling and gulps at his coffee, wincing at the heat. 

"You sure?" she asks him. 

He nods, fiddling with the rim of his cup. "I've thought about it a lot. I'd never be happy knowing I had a kid out there who I'd never met, and didn't know me." 

"If it's really what you want, I'm fine with it. My parents already know, so they're taking me to all the doctor appointments and things... I can keep you updated." 

"Thanks, I'd appreciate that..." 

"Okay. I know it's still several months away, but if you want to be there for the birth, let me know. We can arrange with the hospital for it when it's time. And we'll have to deal with the paperwork too." 

"Yeah. I haven't told my parents yet, but I will... I'll keep in touch with you. Thank you." 

She smiles again and stands, picking up the empty paper that was wrapped around her ice cream cone. He doesn't know how she can stand to eat ice cream when it's so cold out. He watches as she throws her trash away and then leaves the shop, never looking back. He continues to drink his coffee, taking his time. Once it's gone he too stands, and gathers his things before throwing the empty cup away and leaving.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Moumou is a real shop in Aqua City, Odaiba, though I have no idea if it was around at the time this story would take place. Regardless, I looked up pictures and a menu just to make it a bit accurate, haha.
> 
> Also, I plan to update this every Saturday. There are 10 chapters in total.


	2. Trick

"This... this is the baby?" Yamato asks, looking down at the small black and white picture in his hands with awe. It's near the end of January now, and they're once again on the roof of the school, though this time the weather isn't nearly as bitterly cold. Doesn't mean he wouldn't rather be inside still, though he'll have to walk home after this anyway.

She nods at him. "It's twelve weeks. I don't know the sex yet. I have to go back for a second ultrasound in another couple of months or so, they'll look for anything wrong and tell me if it's a boy or a girl then." 

"Yeah, it's fine, I... thank you," he says, feeling somewhat awkward. He doesn't know exactly what he should say. Her matter-of-fact tone and clear disinterest leaves him feeling a bit adrift. He looks again at the picture in his hands. He can see the head, and the feet, and what looks like one of its hands sticking up, the tiny fingers clenched in a fist. This is his kid. _His_. He made this kid. 

"I'll text you if anything comes up," Megumi tells him, and waves goodbye. 

He carefully puts the picture of his baby back in the envelope, and then puts the envelope in his book bag, between two textbooks so it won't get crushed. Then he heads home. 

His dad's still at work when he lets himself into the apartment, so he goes back to his room, where he pulls the picture out again and spends awhile laying on his bed, just looking at it. He's still trying to wrap his mind around this tiny thing in Megumi's stomach being his baby. Mostly when he thinks about himself raising a baby, it still feels unreal. Even with the picture. Though the picture helps, it still doesn't feel entirely real yet. He can't quite fully believe that in six months, his baby is going to be born. A baby that came from him, that shares his genes. 

There's also the fact that thinking about being a dad is _terrifying_. He doesn't know the first thing about being a parent, or having to raise a baby. What if he screws something up, and then screws his kid up? What if the kid winds up hating him, or resenting him for not having a mother? He doesn't even know how to learn how to be a parent. It's not like he can just do it over if he messes up. 

Eventually he hears his dad coming home, so he quickly gets up and puts the picture away, hiding it in the bottom of his desk drawer. It wouldn't do to have his dad see the picture before he's had a chance to tell him. That would probably end in disaster. Once he's made sure the picture is secure, he goes out to his greet his dad. 

"Hi, Dad," he says. "How was work?" 

"Seems like all of the staff wanted to slack off today," his dad grumbles, sliding his slippers on. He pads into the living room and sits down in his recliner with a groan, loosening his tie. 

"You wouldn't let them though, right?" 

"Of course not! But every time I turned around, someone would be chatting to another co-worker, or messing around, or just not where he was supposed to be... I don't know what got into them today." 

"Wizarmon's not haunting the station again, is he?" Yamato asks with a grin. 

His dad rolls his eyes. "I sure hope not." 

He lets his dad go on about work for awhile longer, falling quiet as he wonders if this will be him in sixteen years... his kid listening to him gripe about work as he nods in all the right places. The thought seems so foreign to him. He can't even picture himself with a regular job like his dad. All he's ever wanted to do is just make music with the band. 

Is it even possible to have a band when you've got a kid? 

"You alright?" his dad asks, finally abandoning the subject of Fuji TV. "You're quieter than usual tonight." 

He blinks, focusing on his dad again. "Yeah. Just thinking." 

"About what?" 

_My future kid_. "Oh... you know. School. The band. The usual." He grins a little. It's not entirely a lie, anyway. He thinks again about the picture hidden away in his desk drawer, and wonders how his dad reacted to seeing the first ultrasound picture of him. He wonders how mad his dad will be when he finally finds the courage to tell him about the baby. Maybe he should borrow some courage from Taichi. He'd rather face all four of the Dark Masters _and_ Vamdemon than have to tell his dad right now. 

"If you're sure," his dad says doubtfully. 

"Yep," he says. "What do you want for dinner?" 

"Are you offering to cook tonight?" 

"Why not?" he calls over his shoulder as he goes into the kitchen. He'll have to start doing it for his kid soon enough. Might as well start the habit now. 

* * *

"Hey." Taichi leans over, poking him with a chopstick. "What's up with you? You've been staring off into space." 

Yamato blinks, looking at his friend before he shakes his head, saying nothing as he looks down at his mostly uneaten meal. Lunch is nearly over, he needs to eat fast. 

"You were somewhere else," Taichi persists, returning to his own nearly gone meal. 

He swallows a large bite of vegetables, quickly thinking of an excuse. He can't very well say he was thinking about the ultrasound picture he got a few days ago. "Just thinking about the next song I need to come up with for the band." 

Taichi looks skeptical, but lets it drop, and they finish their meals in silence. He's not even sure yet why he hasn't told Taichi. It's not like he plans to keep it a secret forever, and Taichi is probably the first person he'd want to tell before anyone else. 

But, he has to admit that he's a little afraid of Taichi's reaction... He doesn't _really_ think Taichi would judge him, but... that fear is still there. He doesn't want Taichi to think badly of him. And if there's ever any chance that Taichi might like him back, he doesn't want this to ruin it. 

* * *

"Hey, you heard the rumours about that girl Megumi yet?" 

"Huh?" Yamato jerks his head up. They're walking home from school and as usual, he's spent most of it lost in thought. It's the nearing the end of February now, and though the days are still short and chilly, they've begun to brighten up, the afternoon sun chasing away the winter gloom of January. The trees are still barren, the ground littered with their fallen leaves, but soon enough some of them will begin to flower, hinting at the warm spring weather to come. Megumi is coming to the end of her fourth month. 

"Supposedly Megumi's pregnant, have you heard that?" 

His stomach twists. "Mm-hmm." She's starting to show, her stomach swelling slightly as the baby inside her continues to grow. _My baby_ , he thinks. 

"It's kind of surprising," Taichi continues on, kicking at some leaves as they walk. "I was in a class with her a couple of years ago and she was always so quiet. I wonder who the dad is." 

"Mmm," Yamato says. Maybe he should just go ahead and tell Taichi. He's not likely to get an easier opportunity, after all. And he's been thinking about it a lot for the past month. He really doesn't believe Taichi would think less of him in any way. _Yes_ , he thinks. _This is the best chance I'm gonna get._

"I heard it's Akihito, they apparently eat lunch together all the time, at least that's what Yukari was saying." 

"Maybe," Yamato says dismissively. 

"You don't think so?" Taichi asks, sounding interested. "Who do you think it is then?" 

He's silent for a moment. "Me." 

"Yeah right," Taichi says, laughing. 

Yamato doesn't laugh. Taichi glances over at him. There's another moment of silence. "...Are you serious?" 

He stops walking and puts his head in his hands for a moment. Then he lowers his hands, looking ahead at Taichi, who's stopped by now as well. He takes a deep breath. "Yeah. I'm going to be a dad." Saying it out loud moves it up a notch on the "feels real" metre. 

"...Shit," Taichi says, looking startled. "How? I mean, I know _how_ , but how...? Did you not use, err, protection...?" He's blushing. Yamato would find it cute if his heart wasn't pounding out of his chest with anxiety at finally having told his best friend. 

He looks around, spotting a slatted wooden bench just off the sidewalk, and motions Taichi to it even as he goes to sit down himself. Once they're both settled, bags on the ground, he speaks. "I met her after one of our lives. I recognised her from school, and from a few other lives. We started talking. She was nice, and I could tell she had a crush on me. I didn't like her that way, but we wound up crashing a party and got to drinking, and, well... it just happened," he says, a bit rueful, glancing to the side at Taichi, who's got a serious look on his face as he listens. He runs a hand through his hair. "I didn't have anything on me. We didn't even think about it. Truthfully... she was my first." 

"Damn, hell of an outcome for your first time..." Taichi says, shaking his head, but there's a sympathetic tone to his words that Yamato appreciates. "So, what is she going to do?" 

"Do?" Yamato asks blankly, not following for a moment. 

"I mean, are you guys keeping it, or is she giving it away, or...?" He trails off, leaving Yamato to answer. 

"I'm keeping it," he tells Taichi quietly. 

"Just you?" Taichi asks in confusion. 

He nods, and relaxes into the bench some, feeling relieved. The most nerve-wracking part of the conversation is now over, and thankfully Taichi seems to be taking it well. "She doesn't want anything to do with the baby, I guess. She was going to give it up for adoption, but I couldn't go through life knowing my kid was out there somewhere and I didn't know about it or where the kid was, or that it never knew about me. She's okay with me taking the kid," he explains. He glances over at his best friend, who's looking somewhat shocked by now. 

"How are you going to manage it with school and everything?" 

"I don't know yet," he says, sighing. "I'll have to figure it out, I guess..." 

Taichi shakes his head a bit, as if he can't believe everything he's hearing. "Your dad know?" 

"No. You're the first person I've told. Please don't tell him, or anyone else. I want to tell people myself, when I've got more things figured out." He gives Taichi a pleading look. 

"Yeah, of course, Yamato," Taichi responds easily. "You know I wouldn't. And I'm here for you if you need anything, you know that," he adds with a grin. 

"Yeah." Yamato smiles back. He does know it. Taichi's had his back ever since they were kids tossed into the Digital World. "Thanks, Taichi." 

"Don't mention it. Come on, let's go home." Taichi gets to his feet, grabbing his bag, and Yamato does the same, feeling better than he has in weeks. 

* * *

Later that night, when he's been home for awhile and finished his homework and eaten dinner, he thinks back on his conversation, realising just how glad he is that Taichi knows now. It's easier knowing that he's not the only person having to carry such a heavy secret around, and that Taichi took it so well has made some of the fear ebb a little. He only wishes it were as easy to tell Taichi the truth about his crush on him. 

He also wishes it would be as easy to tell his dad. He doesn't know when would be a good time to, if there ever really is a good time. He doesn't know how to go about it, either. 'Hey Dad, I'm gonna be a dad too!'? 'Dad, guess what? I'm having a baby!'? His dad would have a heart attack. He's so not ready to tell his dad. 

He wonders how his mom told his dad, when she found out they were having him. Perhaps he could talk to her, maybe tell her first, get her advice on how to tell his dad? Their relationship has improved considerably over the last few years, so he would like for her to know too. And they don't see each other often enough for her to be _too_ mad at him, hopefully. Maybe he can tell her soon. The thought doesn't seem as scary as telling his dad. 

The more he thinks about it, the more he feels he can do it. The sooner, the better. There's only about five months left before the baby's born. He can't procrastinate forever.


	3. C'est La Vie

"Yamato!" Natsuko exclaims as she opens the door, a smile on her face. "Come in."

He does so, smiling nervously at her. He follows her to the sofa and sits down, sinking into the floral-patterned cushions. She hovers over him and tries to offer him food and drink, but he refuses politely. He doesn't think his stomach could handle anything right now. 

"Takeru's not here," she says once they're both settled. "He's out with friends. I hope you didn't come all this way looking for him." 

He shakes his head. He knows Takeru is out, that's why he picked this specific time to come. The last thing he needs is for his little brother to be sticking around, asking endless questions and cracking jokes while he's trying to tell his mom she's about to be a grandma. 

"Well, how is school going?" she asks him cheerfully. Even though their relationship has improved over the last four years or so, he still doesn't visit that often. "Almost the end of the year, right? And soon you'll be seventeen!" 

He winces. He doesn't need his age pointed out, doesn't want his mom to be thinking of it for this conversation. "It's fine," he says, "but that's not really why I'm here." He can't sit through a bunch of small talk right now. He's so nervous that he wants to throw up. "I need to talk to you." 

Immediately she looks concerned, and straightens up slightly, paying closer attention to him. "What is it?" 

He grabs the decorative pillow next to him and pulls it to his lap, hugging it as he begins fiddling with the fringe. Now that he's here, he doesn't really know how to tell her. He'd decided to, but hadn't thought it through. 

"Yamato?" she asks, sounding a little worried. 

He bites down on his lower lip and finally decides to come right out and just say it. He clears his throat and glances up at her. "I'm going to be a dad." 

His mom stares at him for a moment, processing his words. "A dad? As in... someone's giving birth to your child?" 

She doesn't sound at all happy. He nods miserably, looking down at the pillow in his lap. Why did he think this was a good idea? 

"Yamato... how _could_ you? I thought you knew better than this! Didn't your dad give you the talk about protection?" 

"Yeah... I was drunk," he admits, mumbling the words, eyes growing slightly wet. He hugs the pillow to him tighter, as if it can somehow protect him from his mom's disappointment and anger. 

"Yamato!" she says, sounding even more exasperated with him. 

"I'm sorry!" he cries, eyes filling even more with tears that he doesn't let fall. "I know! It was stupid!" 

"You can say that again! What about school? You're only sixteen! How are you going to raise a child?" 

"I... I don't know yet," he says, voice trembling slightly. He feels awful. He doesn't like disappointing either of his parents. Why hadn't he just gone home that night? Why had he hung around with a girl that he knew had a crush on him? He'd encouraged her. Her eyes had been brown, and warm when she smiled... They'd reminded him of Taichi. One of the songs in their set that night had been written with Taichi in mind, and Taichi had been all he could think about when he'd sang it. Then Megumi had shown up with her eyes and her smile, and he'd just wanted to pretend a little... 

And now he's going to have a kid in five months, and his mom is angry, and his dad is going to be too when he finds out... and he has no clue what he's supposed to do. "I still have to figure that part out..." he adds, shame-faced. It's one of the things that's been worrying him so much. He wants his kid, but he has no clue how to handle school at the same time. 

"I take it you haven't told your dad yet?" 

"No... I was kind of hoping you'd tell me how he might react before I did..." 

"Well he won't be any happier about it than I am!" she exclaims heatedly. 

"I'm sorry..." He wants to apologise more, to try and calm her down some, but just then the door to the apartment opens. 

"I'm home!" Takeru calls. He spots them on the sofa and his face lights up. "Yamato, hi!" Then he catches sight of their unhappy faces, and his smile falls. "What's going on?" 

"Looks like you're going to be an uncle," his mom spits out angrily before Yamato can say anything, and he winces. 

"I... what?" Takeru looks back and forth from Natsuko to Yamato, confusion written on his face. He comes over and takes a seat on the matching smaller sofa opposite them. 

Yamato sighs, looking at his little brother. Takeru's only thirteen. He shouldn't have to be an uncle so young. "An uncle, Takeru. I'm going to be a dad." 

Takeru's eyes widen. "You are? When? Who's the mom? Do I know her? Does Dad know yet?" The questions come rapid-fire, and Yamato can hardly follow them all. At least Takeru seems to be taking it well, though perhaps he's still young enough to not grasp the full ramifications of being a single teenage dad. 

"Woah... one question at a time, little brother. Yes, I am, in about five months. You don't know the mom, she was a girl that came to several of the band's lives and I got to know her a little bit. She doesn't want to be involved in the baby's life, so you don't need to worry about her. And no, Dad doesn't know yet, so please don't tell him, I'd like to do that myself." 

"Sure..." Takeru says absently. Yamato can tell he's only half-paying attention by now, his mind likely already flying away to the future, trying to imagine his older brother taking care of a baby. Yamato snorts to himself. It seems completely ridiculous to _him_ , he can't imagine what Takeru must be thinking. Neither of them are even grown up yet! 

He sighs again and looks back over to his mom. "Is... is Dad going to be really mad, do you think?" 

His mom's anger softens a bit in the face of her child's obvious fear. "He might be at first, but I'm sure he'll come around. I wouldn't wait too much longer to tell him, though. You'll have a lot to prepare for, and five months will go by before you know it. You said the mom's not helping with the baby?" 

"No... she doesn't want it. She's going to give up all her rights to me." 

"I see," she says, though he's not sure what to make of the expression on her face. "Well, it may make things easier that way, but we can discuss that more once you've told your dad." 

Yamato makes a face at the thought. "He's going to hate me." 

"He won't hate you... I'm angry at you, and think it was irresponsible of you to get drunk and then get a girl pregnant, but I don't hate you either. You're still my son. We all make mistakes sometimes, doesn't mean I don't love you." 

"Wait... you're going to be a dad because you got drunk?" Takeru interjects gleefully, inadvertently interrupting what might have been a touching moment. "Aren't you supposed to set a better example for me as my big brother?" 

Yamato just groans. 

* * *

He spends the next few days thinking about how to tell his dad. His mom hadn't really given him any suggestions, and nothing he can come up with really seems like the right way to go. He also spends a lot of time looking at the ultrasound picture Megumi had given him, wondering what his child might be like, and whether it'll be a boy or a girl. 

One evening when his dad's been home from work for a few hours and happily settled in front of the television, he decides to approach him. He's been going in circles for days now, and continuing to put it off isn't going to get him anywhere. "Dad? Can I talk to you?" 

His dad mutes the television and looks up at him with his full attention. "Sure. What is it?" 

Yamato sidles over to the sofa, sitting on the edge of the cushion nervously. "I... I did something stupid," he admits, running his fingers through his hair. 

His dad immediately looks wary, sitting up a little straighter in the old chair. "Go on," he says in a cautious tone. 

He licks suddenly dry lips. He irrationally wishes he'd taken more time to think about this. "Well, I got drunk, and there was this girl..." He trails off, catching sight of his dad's face. Already his dad's looking upset. He's completely screwing this up. 

His dad sighs, relaxing back again, stretching his legs out and crossing the ankles. Though still somewhat upset, he suddenly looks largely unconcerned now, an experienced man ready to impart his well-earned wisdom to his lesser experienced son. "Let me guess, now she's pursuing you and you need advice on how to let her down easy?" 

Oh man, his dad really is going to kill him. He's so not ready for this. "Not exactly..." 

"You shouldn't be getting drunk anyway. You're not old enough," his dad chastises, frowning. 

"I know... I'm sorry..." 

His dad waves it away. "I was a teenager once too, you know. So, what's the problem then?" 

He bites down on his lower lip, hesitating. Maybe he should just make something up...? 

"Yamato?" 

No, he'd still have to tell him the truth later if he doesn't do it now. Best to just come out and say it, like with his mom. "Dad, you're... you're going to be a grandpa. Surprise?" he says weakly. Inside his head he's berating himself. That hadn't been at _all_ how he'd meant to say it! Why did he do that? 

His dad stares at him for a moment. "Is this a joke?" he finally asks. 

"Why do people keep asking that?" he wonders out loud, before shaking his head. "No, Dad. No, it's not a joke. In about five months, you're going to have a grandkid. I'm going to be a dad..." 

"What were you _thinking_?" 

Yamato winces. His dad's voice is quiet, and that makes it so much worse than if he were yelling. The quiet voice isn't just anger, it's immense disappointment as well. His dad rarely uses this particular voice unless he's done something serious. He swallows and tries not to cry. "Well, I was drunk... I guess I wasn't thinking..." 

"Damn right you weren't." 

"I'm sorry... I know you're mad, but please, I've been so confused, I don't know what to do..." His voice is breaking, and he's on the verge of crying despite himself. He doesn't want his dad to hate him for this. 

His dad lets out a long sigh, rubbing at his eyes wearily. He suddenly looks old, and Yamato feels bad for dumping this news on him. "I can't believe you, Yamato, I thought you knew better than this. I _know_ we talked about it, I even offered to buy you condoms if you needed them!" 

"I know, I know..." He wipes at his wet eyes, falling back into the sofa. Even though his dad's still mad, it's a relief to finally have the truth out. "I know we talked about it, I just... I was drunk and I really didn't think anything would happen, and then it did somehow... She was my first time, I didn't have anything on me..." He blushes, the bright red of his face clashing with his blond hair. 

"I'm pretty sure we covered that too," his dad says with a groan. "If you don't have anything, don't have sex!" 

"I'm sorry... I didn't mean to..." 

"Hormones," his dad mutters, shaking his head a few times. 

They're both quiet for a time, until Yamato can't stand it anymore. "Am I going to be punished?" he asks in a small voice. 

His dad looks at him, his expression serious. "I think the child will be punishment enough. I'm to assume by telling me, you and the mom are keeping it?" 

"I am... she doesn't want it." 

"How far along is she?" 

"Four months... she told me about two months ago. It took me about a week to decide to keep it. The rest of the time has just been trying to figure out how to tell people." 

His dad's eyes alight with understanding as he quickly does the mental math. "That's what was bothering you over the holidays." 

"She told me last day of winter term. So I had plenty of time to think about it," he says, mouth twisting in a rueful smile. His dad seems a little calmer now, for which he's very thankful. He doesn't know what he would have done if his dad had screamed and hated him and kicked him out, which had been one of his biggest fears to telling him. 

"There's a lot to still think about," his dad says, in a cautioning tone. 

"I know... what I'm going to do about school and taking care of a baby." 

"Among other things," his dad agrees. "But let's stick to school. What _do_ you plan to do?" 

"I don't know..." Yamato admits. "I want to stay in school. But babies take up a lot of time, don't they?" 

"Yes, they do. Which isn't to say you can't still manage both. But it will be very difficult, and stressful. You'll be exhausted a lot, and may not have a lot of free time for yourself. Are you prepared for that?" 

He sits up straighter, wanting his dad to see he's serious. "Yes," he says resolutely. "I already decided, I couldn't live with myself knowing I had a kid out there that I never met, or never met me. So even if it's hard, and I get stressed, I want to keep and raise the baby." 

His dad looks at him approvingly. "Okay. So then your two main options are to either find a babysitter to watch the baby while you're in school, or use a daycare." 

"Which is better?" 

"They both have advantages and disadvantages. We can do some research on the web later to compare. But it really comes down to whichever one you prefer, and also which one is more affordable. Daycares can get expensive fast, especially for infants, as they require a lot more care than a toddler or small child." 

"What did you and Mom use for me?" he asks curiously. 

"We didn't, not at first," his dad says, shaking his head. "Your mom took a year off from work to stay with you, and then your grandparents watched you for the next year. It was only after that we got a babysitter." 

"I lived in France?" he asks, the confusion in his voice reflecting the matching confusion on his face. 

His dad laughs in genuine amusement, and he feels mentally reassured that his dad isn't angry anymore. "No, they were living here at the time. They came here when your mom and I got married and decided to stay for a few years. They went back to France shortly after you turned two." 

"Oh. Well, I don't have a lot of money right now, so I don't know how I'd pay for daycare or even a babysitter... The band's been bringing in some money since we got signed with that indie label six months ago, but we put most of it right back in, for equipment and stuff. I guess I could keep some of my portion out though... Maybe I could get a job?" He looks at his dad uncertainly. He doesn't know of many teenagers his age who have jobs. He doesn't have a clue what kind of job he could do, or where he could look for one. 

"No... you're going to have a hard enough time juggling school, your band, and the baby without adding a second job to the mix." 

"Second job?" He frowns at his dad, perplexed. He's pretty sure he'd remember having a job already. 

"Your band _is_ your job, even if you just started it as a hobby. You did say you guys wanted to start getting more serious with it, right?" 

"Yeah. I mean, we already have gotten serious some, now that we've been signed. We're a real band, we have CDs and merch and a fan club, we put out PVs and held lives, we've done a couple of photo shoots for magazines..." He trails off as he considers it. He'd never thought of his band as a job, but when he thinks about all they've done for it over the last year and the money it already brings in, he realises his dad is right. It is his job. 

"Exactly." His dad nods. "If you keep doing well, in another couple of years you'll likely go major, and money won't be a problem. But for now I'm willing to help you out while you're still in school, and I bet your mom is too." 

"I... thank you," Yamato says, feeling touched. In all of his worrying about it over the past couple of months, he'd never once given thought to either of his parents helping him out financially, feeling sure they'd make him do it himself. 

"So, we'll look at childcare options later and discuss it in more detail once we've done so. We'll also need to go shopping for baby things. Have you thought about where you're going to put the baby?" 

"Um..." He looks around the small apartment in despair. It's a perfect size for just him and his dad, but he hasn't given a thought to fitting a child in it. There's more to this baby stuff than he thought. "My room?" 

"We'll have to rearrange things to make a crib fit. It might be a tight squeeze. And you'll also need a changing table, a good one with space for diapers and clothes. And you'll need storage for extra clothes and sheets, and something for toys. We'll also need to make room for a playpen later." 

Yamato looks at his dad helplessly, his heart sinking. He can't imagine fitting all of that into his bedroom, even with his being the bigger of the two rooms. "Should I... should I not keep the baby after all?" 

"What? No!" His dad sounds distressed, and shakes his head. "No, Yamato, that is _not_ what I meant. This is your child. You have the right to raise it, I wouldn't try to take that away from you or talk you out of it. I just want to make you aware of exactly what you are getting into, so there are few surprises." 

"I just don't see how all that stuff will fit..." 

"We'll find a way. We may look into getting you a few new things too, to help maximise storage space." 

He sighs. "This is going to be a lot of shopping." 

His dad grins. "You don't even know the half of it." 

"Ugh." He makes a face, then jumps up suddenly, remembering something. "Oh!" 

"What?" his dad asks, seemingly taken by surprise. 

"I just remembered! Hold on!" He races out of the living room, through the kitchen and down the hall to his bedroom, where he grabs a well-worn envelope out of his desk drawer before running back to his dad. He goes and sits on the arm of his dad's chair, and his dad looks at the envelope curiously. 

"It's... well, here." He opens the envelope gently and pulls out the picture, handing it to his dad. 

His dad takes it carefully, looking down at the tiny form in black and white, and doesn't speak. 

"It's my baby," Yamato says after a moment, watching him anxiously. "It's too soon to tell if it's a boy or girl..." 

His dad looks up at him then, and his eyes are shiny with tears. Yamato's own eyes widen a fraction, and he suddenly feels uncomfortable. That isn't quite the reaction he was expecting. "You really are going to be a dad," his dad says in wonder, choking up on the words. "I'm going to be a grandpa." 

He can't help but smile, though he's not used to seeing such emotion from his dad. "Yeah, you are. Crazy, huh?" 

His dad looks back down at the picture again, not responding. After a moment he hands the picture back to Yamato, who puts it back in the envelope. 

"So... is it okay?" he asks apprehensively. "You're not too mad?" He doesn't really think his dad is now, but he wants the vocal reassurance just the same. 

His dad gives a deep sigh. "I would have liked for you to have been a little more responsible in your choices, but what's done is done. There's no point in me staying angry at you. Besides, we'll have to start preparing for this baby soon. Five months will go by before you know it." 

He rolls his eyes at the last bit. "Mom said the same thing, about five months going by." 

"We've been there before, with you and Takeru both," his dad says, grinning. He looks at his watch. "We can talk more about this in the next few days. It's getting late, you've got school in the morning, and me work. We should both be getting to bed." 

He nods agreeably, and stands up. "Dad... thank you," he says softly, and leans in, giving him a hug. His dad looks startled, but hugs him back readily enough. "Good night," he says, and goes to his room. He puts the envelope back up and undresses, climbing into bed with strangely mixed emotions.


	4. Killing Me

"So I told my dad."

"About the..." Taichi trails off, looking around the classroom full of students, many of whom won't hesitate to spread gossip, and then raises his eyebrows meaningfully. Yamato nods. "How'd that go?" 

He sighs as he idly pulls out the books for their next class. "He was understandably mad at first. But eventually he calmed down, and we talked a little about what I'm going to do about... all of it. We're supposed to talk more in the next few days and do some internet research. I showed him the picture too, and he sort of choked up over it... That was awkward." 

"You have a picture?" Taichi demands, waving his hands around in his excitement, and Yamato has to duck to avoid the pencil in Taichi's hand. "Why didn't I know about this? Why haven't you shown me?" 

His eyes grow large, slightly confused at Taichi's reaction. "I didn't realise it was a big deal... I can show you if you want? Come with me after school, it's at home." 

"Oh trust me, I will. You didn't get in trouble?" 

"No," he says, shaking his head. "He said I'll be punished enough in a few months." 

Taichi snorts at that, opening his textbook to the appropriate page as their next teacher walks in. "I imagine he's right about that..." 

* * *

Once school is over for the day they both walk to Yamato's apartment. Yamato lets them in, both of them greeting his dad, who's home early from work for once. He leaves his best friend in the living room to talk to his dad while he goes and gets the picture. 

"How are you doing, Taichi?" he hears his dad ask as he heads down the hallway. 

"Fine! Yamato's showing me the picture of the baby!" Taichi says excitedly, and Yamato shakes his head, grinning to himself. He quickly grabs the envelope and goes back to them. He throws himself down on the sofa next to Taichi, and pulls the picture out and holds it so Taichi can see, setting the envelope down on the end table. 

"See, this is the head," he says, pointing. He points to the opposite end. "And this is the feet... This is one of the baby's little hands sticking up..." 

Taichi squints at it. "That's a baby?" 

"Yeah. My baby." Yamato smiles. Even though it's still terrifying most of the time, he's really starting to like the sound of it. He didn't think he would, but he's actually starting to get rather excited to have a kid. 

Taichi looks at him, then at his dad, then back at the picture. "It's cute," he says doubtfully. 

He shoves at his best friend playfully, grinning. "Shut up." 

Taichi flashes him a quick grin in return, then returns his attention to the picture, scrunching his face up as he studies it. "Is it a boy or a girl?" 

Yamato shrugs casually as he reaches out for the envelope to put the picture back up. "Don't know yet. I won't for another month when she's got her next appointment." 

"You going with her?" 

"Are you kidding? She said her parents are still so mad they want to string me up alive. I'll be lucky if I get to be there when the baby's born." 

* * *

"Alright, that's enough for today," Ny says tiredly, pulling his hands away from his keyboard. "Any later and we might as well just stay the night." 

"Finally," Kenji groans, looking relieved through his exhaustion as he sets his drumsticks down. 

The rest of them all begin to quickly pack up their instruments, but Yamato hesitates, standing there with his guitar still strapped around his chest. "Guys?" 

They stop packing and look up at him, curious looks on their faces. "Yes?" Ny asks him. 

"Can I talk to you for a minute? It's important," he adds, though he knows they're all willing to listen to regardless. With the exception of Nyusumi and Kenji, they've only all known each other for a few years, but they've become rather close in that time. They're more than just a band. They're a family, and he knows they'll always have his back. 

They stop packing and grab various seats that have been left scattered around the band room. Ny begins absently fiddling with his dark blue ponytail as he waits. Yamato finally pulls off his guitar, setting it aside as he, too, takes a seat. 

"What is it?" Ratsuii asks. 

He takes a deep breath. He's done this three times already, but it doesn't get any easier. There's no way to predict anyone's reactions, and there's always the fear that the next person he tells won't want anything to do with him anymore. "You guys know Megumi?" 

"That pregnant girl from 1-C?" Kenji asks, scratching his head as he tries to recall her better. 

"That's my class," Ny remarks. "Word is Akihito is the dad. They're always eating together at lunch, whispering and giggling." 

"She's starting to show, isn't she? I wonder when she's due." 

"July," Yamato answers automatically, then realises what he's said when they all start staring at him. Once again, _not_ how he intended to break the news. "Err..." 

Kenji gets it first. "Oh man, you're the dad." 

"Wait a minute. Isn't Megumi the girl that approached you after our last live?" Ny asks suddenly, remembering. 

He sighs, running a hand through his hair. "Yes, she is. And yes, I'm the dad... After we left you guys that night, we crashed a party and got drunk, and, well... one thing lead to another I guess. I don't even really like her that way, but now she's having my kid..." 

"Man, that's rough," Kenji says, shaking his head. "But hey, we could make the kid our mascot! Bring him to all our lives, I bet the fangirls would go wild." 

Yamato rolls his eyes. "Sure, let's do that. I mean, it might traumatise the baby slightly. But no big deal." 

"Are you even keeping the baby?" Ratsuii asks. He's been quiet this whole time, a fact that Yamato hasn't failed to notice and get nervous over, but now he's finally speaking up. He's asking the practical questions as usual, which leaves Yamato hoping he's not being judged badly. 

"Yes," he replies. He gives Ratsuii a wry smile. "Just me though. Megumi doesn't want any part of it once it's born." 

"So you're just going to raise it alone?" Ny asks, concern lacing his tone. 

"I mean, my parents are going to help. But mostly, yes." He sighs again. "Look, part of the reason I'm telling you this is because I want you guys to know I have no intentions of quitting the band. But, things might get difficult for awhile, I'll probably be stressed a lot and may be late to a practice or not always be able to go or something, and I'm hoping that you'll sort of understand and be patient. I still want to go major and I plan to work just as hard as you guys to make that happen." 

"Just keep us in the loop, okay?" Ny says. "For example, if your kid's been sick all day and you know you can't make it, don't wait last minute to tell us. Well, I know things come up last minute sometimes and that's fine too, just... don't give us the feeling that you're not invested anymore. We can't do this without you. We need all four of us for this band to work." 

Yamato smiles at him. "I'll do my best." He looks around at them. "Trust me, I don't intend to abandon you guys." 

"We get to meet it though, right?" Kenji asks, looking excited. "The baby? Once it's born?" 

"Of course you do, why wouldn't you? Look, I've even got a picture from Megumi's ultrasound. I'll show you sometime." 

"Awesome!" Kenji says gleefully. "You're going to be a dad, this is so exciting!" 

Yamato shakes his head at his friend, smiling. "If that's how you feel, you're certainly welcome to babysit anytime." He smirks. "Just be prepared for diaper changes, and feedings, and spit-up... Oh, and crying. Probably lots and lots of crying." 

"You know, I think I've actually got plans after school. For the next two years or so, funnily enough. I'd love to if I was free though, really." Kenji grins. 

He grins back, Kenji's good mood contagious. "You're impossible." 

Ny laughs at them both. "Come on, we better get out of here, it'll be dark soon." 

They begin to get up and go back to packing up, Kenji still asking him questions about the baby, most of which Yamato can't answer—"What are you naming it? Will it look like you? Is it a boy or girl?"—but eventually Kenji and Ny are gone, and it's just him and Ratsuii, who'd been lingering. 

"Can we talk a moment?" Ratsuii asks seriously once the others have left. 

Yamato looks at him warily, wondering if maybe Ratsuii isn't that cool with his impending fatherhood. Other than the one question, he hasn't said a word since Yamato broke his news. "Sure, what's wrong?" 

"You know Luna?" 

"Your sister?" he asks curiously, feeling momentarily derailed as he recalls the small toddler he's seen with his friend a couple of times. He'd been expecting something about what a stupid decision he's making by keeping a baby. "What about her?" He becomes alarmed. "Is something wrong with her?" 

Ratsuii shakes his head vigorously, chin-length brown strands of hair flying around as he does. "No! No, she's fine, that isn't what I meant." 

"So what is it?" 

He takes a deep breath and looks at him, his face grave. "Luna isn't my sister, she's my daughter." 

Yamato's eyes widen in shock. He scrabbles around for words, feeling completely caught off-guard. "Are you serious? Isn't she two already?" 

"Three, actually." Ratsuii looks a bit uncomfortable. "She was born when I was thirteen. You've seen the tattoo on my back?" 

"The moon with the music notes?" 

"Yes, and the date. It's to commemorate both her and her mom. The date is her birthday, as well as the day her mom died giving birth to her. The moon represents both of their names. Her mom's name is Tsukiko, it's why I even named my daughter 'Luna' in the first place." 

"Shit, Ratz. I'm sorry. I had no idea..." 

Ratsuii waves a hand, dismissing it. He picks up his guitar case and then slings his bookbag over his other shoulder. "I just don't like telling people, and Luna doesn't know the truth yet either. That's not really the point of me telling you anyway. I just wanted you to know, I've been where you're at, freaking out because you've got a kid on the way and you're still a kid yourself." He pauses and looks at Yamato, the most serious look on his face that Yamato's ever seen. "And I'm not going to lie, the first year or two will be tough. You'll spend a lot of time doubting yourself, wondering if you did the right thing, wondering if you're really capable of raising a kid. But it gets better, and it's worth it. Just, in the meantime, if you need help with anything... with the kid or just needing to talk or whatever... I'm willing to do whatever I can. You just have to let me know." 

"Thanks..." Yamato says softly, touched. "That means a lot, Ratsuii. I really appreciate it." 

"No problem." Ratsuii gives him a lopsided smile. "Just don't mention it to the others? I'd never hear the end of it from Kenji." 

He laughs. "Yeah, I'm already expecting to be teased until the end of time. Don't worry, I won't say anything." He picks up his own guitar case and bookbag and they head out of the school, walking together in the rapidly darkening twilight, talking and laughing with a familiar ease. 

* * *

A few weeks later, he finds himself in their old middle school, crowded with all of the other Chosen around a computer, excited and nervous anticipation thrumming through his veins. It's been too long—since last summer at least. Life keeps them busy, and constantly going in different directions. It's rare for them all to be able to get together like this, which means the moments they do, he cherishes all the more. That today it's for him especially makes him feel warm inside, and he can't stop smiling. 

"We haven't done this in awhile," Jou remarks, pushing his glasses up on his nose as he looks at everyone happily. It's been awhile since Yamato has actually seen him—he mostly gets updates through Koushiro. Jou doesn't look too much different from the last time they spent time together, but his hair's gotten longer, and he's got it pulled neatly back into a ponytail. It makes him look a bit older somehow. 

"Sure brings back memories, doesn't it?" Sora says, smiling at the old computer lab. 

Koushiro looks around. "It's only been a year since you switched schools; it really hasn't changed that much, Sora." 

"I don't think that was the point," Yamato tells him, grinning. 

"Alright, enough talk! Everybody ready?" Miyako yells happily. 

"Yes!" They all chorus back at her, and he laughs with excitement. 

"Okay then!" She holds her digivice up in the front of the computer and they all gather around closer in anticipation. "Digital Gate, open!" 

As usual, they land in a tangled heap of limbs, all grunting and shoving at each other to get free. A few complaints are heard as some of them don't manage to make it out unscathed. 

Once they've all sorted themselves out, they take a moment to get their bearings. They've set their destination for File Island rather than the main areas of the Server Continent the younger Chosen had spent most of their time in two years ago, and aren't far from The Village of Beginnings. It takes less than an hour for their Digimon partners to reach them, all of them having felt the pull to each other the second they'd gone through the gate. In the meantime, they'd all began setting up for the picnic they'd prepared for. 

Yamato hugs Gabumon fiercely once their Digimon partners reach them, glad to see him. He's missed his Digimon greatly, and regrets that he hasn't made an effort to see him sooner or more often. 

"You've grown," Gabumon remarks, looking over him, and Yamato smiles. 

A few hours later, they're all willing to relax, having played an impromptu game of soccer with their Digimon—organised by Taichi and Daisuke, of course—and then stuffed themselves with delicious food afterwards. 

"That was great," Ken says softly, a kind smile lighting up his face. "Tell your mom thanks for all the food, Koushiro." 

"We should do this more often," Mimi sighs happily, stretching out on her stomach on top of the flowery pastel blanket she'd brought. "Especially now that I'm back in Japan for a couple of years." 

"Yeah! Come visit me, Mimi!" Palmon says, clapping her hands together and dancing around her partner in excitement. 

"And me, Sora!" Piyomon chimes in, rubbing against Sora's side affectionately. 

"I wanna visit Iori!" Armadimon says, wagging his tail. 

"Me too, Daisuke!" V-mon squeaks, and it's not long before all the rest of the Digimon are clamouring for their partners to visit them. 

Yamato watches them in amusement, sprawled out on the blanket next to Mimi, shaking his head at her. "See what you've started now," he says, teasing, poking her gently in the side. 

She giggles, grabbing Palmon's hands and smiling at her. "Don't worry Palmon, I'll come visit!" 

"So when are we going to open your presents, Yamato?" Taichi asks, turning to him. 

"Yeah!" Daisuke exclaims, pumping a fist in the air. "It's your birthday! You gotta open presents!" 

"Here." Koushiro reaches into the large bag they'd brought, and pulls out a gaily-wrapped box, handing it to Taichi, who then dumps it unceremoniously in Yamato's lap. 

Yamato stares at it a moment, but before he can even reach for it, another one is tossed on top of the first. "Ack! Taichi!" he cries in mock consternation. 

"Then hurry up and open them!" Taichi orders, even as he drops a third and fourth one down. 

"Okay, okay," he says, laughing as he reaches for a box. He reads the tag. "This one's yours, Taichi," he says, gently tearing the bright blue wrapping off. He blinks as he's momentarily blinded by the flash of Hikari's camera. When he can see again, he opens the box up, and finds that nestled among the tissue paper is a thick, black, coptic-bound journal, with the word "songs" embossed in silver on the front cover. He opens it up and finds the pages filled with both regular lines for lyrics, and five-line staffs for actual composing. 

"I noticed that your current lyric journal is almost full, and starting to fall apart," Taichi says, sounding nervous. He scratches his head, looking at Yamato. "I hope it's okay. Happy Birthday?" 

Yamato smiles wide, closing the cover again reverently. "It's perfect," he says, the joy in his voice clear. "Thank you." 

Taichi blushes faintly. "You're welcome." He eyes Mimi, who's sat back up by now and is giggling and nudging Jou. He apparently decides he doesn't want to know though, because he just motions to the next present, ignoring them. 

Yamato sets the journal on the blanket beside him, and reaches for the next box. Ten boxes later, and he's got eleven presents stacked beside him and eleven very pleased friends. "Really guys, thank you all again," he says. "The presents are great, and the picnic was amazing. I've really enjoyed today." He looks around at all of them. "Now I've got a present of my own, sort of... I guess it's not exactly a present, though. But I have something to tell you guys." 

Everyone except his brother and his best friend give him confused looks. They both come over and sit next to him in silent support, Takeru taking his hand and squeezing it gently, and Taichi leaning over and briefly nudging his shoulder with his own. 

"Should we be worried?" Sora asks, raising an eyebrow. 

Yamato sighs. By this point, he's learned it's quicker to just come right out and say it, like ripping off a plaster. "I'm going to be a dad." 

There's nothing but dead silence for a moment. Then the group explodes, humans and Digimon alike, all talking over one another, everyone trying to ask him questions at the same time. The noise actually hurts his ears a little. 

Jou putting his fingers to his mouth and giving a shrill whistle stops everyone in their tracks, though Yamato winces and covers his ears momentarily. "Let Yamato talk," he says pointedly, and everyone looks appropriately remorseful. 

He gives Jou a grateful look, and then continues on. "Since I've gotten the same questions every time I've told someone, I might as well address them now," Yamato tells them. "Yes, I _am_ going to be a dad. The mom is a girl I met at one of my lives, most of you won't know her. Yes, I am keeping the baby and raising it myself. No, the mom is not helping. No, I don't know what I'm naming it yet. Yes, both of my parents know, along with Taichi and Takeru here. And lastly, no, I don't know if it's a boy or a girl yet." 

"So you're raising it all alone?" 

"Yes. Mostly. With my parents' help some," he amends, shrugging at Jou. 

"That's... admirable," Koushiro remarks. "And tough. Why not give it up for adoption?" 

He lets out a sigh. "It wasn't so much about doing the right thing, or being seen as admirable... I just knew I'd never be able to live with myself if I gave it up. I'd forever be wondering about the kid I had out there in the world somewhere." 

"Well I think it's great!" Mimi says excitedly, bringing her hands together in glee. "You're going to be a daddy! We'll have to go shopping, and get tons of cute clothes to dress the baby in! I can't wait!" 

Yamato looks faintly alarmed at that. "Maybe..." he says, secretly hoping not. He's not sure he can handle a shopping trip with Mimi. He takes comfort in the fact that the other boys look just as alarmed at the thought as he does. 

Later, when he's fielded as many questions as he can handle and they've broken off into smaller groups, most of them spending some one-on-one time with their Digimon, Gabumon approaches him. 

"This 'being a dad' thing... It's a big deal?" he asks curiously, sitting down beside his partner. 

Yamato gives him a half-smile. "Yeah, kinda." He motions to the Village of Beginnings nearby. "Here in the Digital World, all of the Digimon are born there, and cared for by Elecmon until they're old enough to leave. But in my world, it's a bit different. You know we all live with our parents. It's a big deal when two adults decide to have a baby and raise it. You have to spend the next twenty or so years taking care of it as it grows up, and making sure you have enough money to provide for it. It's not usually something you decide lightly." 

"Aren't you still growing yourself, though?" 

"Yes... which is why it's an even bigger deal for me, and why everyone was so surprised. I made a mistake, and now I'm going to have a kid even though I'm still one myself. I'll still have to go to school and do my band stuff and finish growing up myself while caring for a baby. It's going to be really hard," Yamato admits, voice rough. "I'm not sure I can do it." 

Gabumon leans into his side, offering his support. "You're a good person, Yamato, and you're strong. I remember how you cared for Takeru when you both were younger. I believe in you." 

"Thanks, Gabumon," Yamato whispers. They grow quiet, watching the sky go from its usual brilliant blue to beautiful shades of pink and orange as the sun begins to set. They'll have to leave soon, he knows, but for now he's content to just sit here with Gabumon and put off growing up a little bit longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "I mean, it might traumatise the baby slightly," is originally from Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. I haven't even read it, but my friend sent me several of the lines from Scorpius, and I love them. I couldn't resist using this one :D


	5. Revelation

"Here." Megumi thrusts a picture at him, nearly hitting him in the chest with it. He blinks and takes it from her, looking down at it. It's another ultrasound. The baby's more formed than last time. He can make out a few more features on the face, and the fingers and toes are a little clearer. "It's healthy," she says matter-of-factly. "No defects or issues that they could find. Oh, and it's a boy."

He jerks his head up at her words, not having expected the last bit and thrown off by the casual way she tacks it on. He gazes at her for a moment, then looks at the ultrasound again. Yep... definitely a boy. He stares down at the picture in a daze for a time, feeling oddly jumbled up. A boy... he's having a son. 

"I... thanks," he manages to choke out around the sudden lump in his throat. 

She just nods, giving him an awkward smile, and then she's gone, leaving him alone with an empty envelope and the picture of his son clutched tightly in his hands. 

When he gets home a little while later, he lets his dad know he's back and then takes his usual spot on his bed, pulling the picture back out of the envelope. He stares at it for a long time, gently tracing the outline of his baby with his fingers, memorising every line. Somehow, it's starting to feel even more real for him now. In a few months, he'll have a _son_. A son that shares his DNA, has half his genes, one that he created and will have to raise and care for in some manner for the rest of his life... He's not just Yamato: son, Chosen child, and lead singer of the band Teenage Wolves anymore. Now he's Yamato: son, Chosen child, lead singer, and _father_. 

If he thinks about it too much, it's a heavy and paralysing weight on his chest. 

After awhile his dad knocks on the door and pokes his head in. "Yamato, I—" He stops, whatever he meant to say forgotten as he catches sight of the black and white picture in Yamato's hands. "Is that a new ultrasound picture?" he asks instead. 

Yamato nods, and holds it out towards his dad. "It's a boy," he says as his dad comes over and sits down on the edge of the bed, gently taking the picture from him. "I'm having a boy." He's surprised to feel a few stray tears sliding down his cheeks. "Sorry," he says with an embarrassed look, wiping them away. 

His dad looks up from the picture, smiling ruefully when he spots the tears. "Don't be. I had a similar reaction when your mom showed me the ultrasound picture of you and told me I was going to have a son. It makes it feel a little more real, doesn't it? You can picture having a boy easier than some genderless, unknown child." 

His dad hands the picture back to him, and he traces the outline of the baby again, still in awe that this tiny thing is his son. "I can't wait to meet him," he says softly. 

"It'll be here soon enough," his dad tells him, reaching out to ruffle his hair. "You'll have to start thinking about names for him soon." 

Yamato groans at that. He doesn't even know where to start. He's been so caught up in worrying about raising the kid right that names haven't even crossed his mind. 

His dad catches sight of the face he's making and laughs. "Don't worry, you've still got some time yet." 

* * *

"How about Lugia?" 

Yamato gives his best friend an incredulous look. "I'm not naming my son after a Pokémon!" 

"Riku?" 

He makes a face. "No." 

"Sakura?" 

"That's a girl's name!" 

"Tohma?" Takeru chimes in with a suggestion of his own. "You could make the second kanji 'yama' like the first part of your name, so he'd sort of be named after you." 

Yamato groans. "I don't want to name my kid after me. And you know our parents put my name in katakana. Yours too, even if you made up your own kanji." 

Takeru makes a face at him, childishly sticking out his tongue, though there's a hidden mischievous grin dancing in his eyes. "Fine. Tarou?" 

"No!" 

"Pikachu?" Taichi asks, grinning. 

"Taichi!" Yamato complains, an exasperated tone in his voice. "I can't name him any of those! He'd be shunned for life! Especially if I name him after a Pokémon! At least Takeru's are normal, if sort of old-fashioned." 

Takeru grins at that, sticking his tongue out at Taichi. "Ha! Mine are better!" 

"Not by much." Taichi reaches out and ruffles his hair in return, messing it up. 

"Hey!" Takeru protests. He tries to fix his hair with his hands, grumbling, even as Taichi continues to mess it up more. 

Yamato just watches them, sighing. His best friend and brother are clearly going to be no help. 

* * *

At last spring hols arrive. Yamato's looking forward to it, worn out by the end of year exams and ready for a break before the new school year starts in a few weeks. He really can't wait to just hang out with his friends, enjoying the warm weather and taking one of his last chances to just be a kid before his own kid is born. 

Unfortunately, his dad has different ideas. He looks at the recycle shop in front of them with distaste. The building is small and cramped looking, the sign faded and peeling. He's not opposed to recycle shops, but couldn't his dad have picked a better one? He thinks longingly of the new song journal Taichi got him for his birthday, back at home in the drawer of his bedside table. He could be there, writing a new song and enjoying his break, instead of standing on a street in the middle of downtown Tokyo, preparing for a day of torture... 

"Let's go," his dad says, and Takeru immediately darts eagerly for the door of the shop, excited to go in and explore. His dad follows at a more leisurely pace, and after a moment's hesitation, Yamato trails behind both of them reluctantly. 

The inside turns out to be a little roomier than he'd expected looking at it from the outside, but things are everywhere, loosely grouped by categories of items but having no real organisation otherwise. Yamato hates it. 

"It's going to take us forever to find anything in here," he complains in a whisper, not wanting the shopkeeper to overhear. 

His dad just rolls his eyes. "No, it won't. Come on. This is your son, so you need to be the one making choices on his stuff." 

Yamato sighs but obediently goes after his dad. 

Four hours later, Yamato's lost count of how many shops they've been to. Recycle shops, pawn shops, shops in the mall... even a small flea market. His dad's small car is loaded down with baby stuff, and the larger stuff such as the crib and changing table has been arranged to be delivered to their apartment. He's also all too aware of the fact that they didn't buy a single piece of clothing for the baby, and knows there's still at least one more shopping trip in his future. Probably with his mom. He shudders. 

At last, his dad declares them done for the day. Both he and Takeru are completely exhausted, their feet dragging as they trudge out of the latest store, Yamato carrying the bag of parenting books his dad has bought him. There's also a baby name book in there, which Yamato hopes will prove more useful than his best friend and brother. 

"I'll pay you back, Dad, I promise," he says quietly as they cross the parking lot. "For all of it." 

His dad just shakes his head. "Don't worry about it for now." 

They climb into the car, Takeru yelping a bit when a box of diapers that was stacked in the seat beside him falls over, the corner catching his head. Yamato buckles his seat belt wearily. He's realising that raising his child is going to be even more hard work than he had thought, and he's really starting to wonder if he can do it. 

_You'll spend a lot of time doubting yourself, wondering if you did the right thing, wondering if you're really capable of raising a kid._

Ratsuii's words come back to him, and he closes his eyes as he leans his head back against the seat. Perhaps he should take Ratz up on his offer and go talk to him. 

* * *

"Hi, Mrs. Kyodai. Is Ratsuii home?" 

"Yes, come in. He's playing with Luna in her room. I was just about to go out, I'll show you back." 

"Thank you." He slips on the guest slippers and follows her to Luna's room gratefully. He's only been to Ratsuii's house a couple times before, and doesn't quite know his way around yet. 

"Ratsuii, Yamato's here to see you," Mrs. Kyodai says, knocking on the door jamb of Luna's room. 

Ratsuii looks up from the small pink table he's seated at, and smiles broadly at Yamato as he places his tiny cup of invisible tea back on the saucer. "Hey, Yamato, come in!" 

"I'm going out to the store now; I'll be back in a couple of hours. Luna, you behave for Ratsuii, understand?" 

"Yes Mama!" 

Yamato stands in the doorway uncertainly once she's gone. Ratsuii smirks at him. "Have a seat," he says, gesturing to one of the toy chairs. 

"Seriously?" he asks, one eyebrow arched elegantly, and Ratsuii nods, still smirking. 

"I'm sure Luna will provide you with some tea." 

Yamato shakes his head and goes over to the purple plastic chair, awkwardly lowering himself on it. He finds the best way to handle it is to sit cross-legged, though it's rather uncomfortable. He takes the toy cup Luna hands him with a slight wince, his attempted smile coming out as more of a grimace. "Thank you," he tells her, and she beams happily at him. 

"Ra, who?" she asks, pointing at Yamato. 

"This is Yamato," Ratsuii tells her. 

"Ma'o!" 

He looks confusedly at Ratsuii, wondering if this is how all three year olds talk. He hasn't been around small children much. 

Ratsuii shrugs. "Her speech is a bit behind. She's working with a specialist, so should be caught up just fine by the time she starts school." 

"Tea!" she exclaims, pointing at Yamato. 

"Tea?" he asks, not sure what she's wanting. 

"She wants you to drink it," Ratsuii clarifies. 

"But there's nothing there!" 

Ratsuii rolls his eyes. "You pretend." He sips at his empty cup and then smiles at Luna. "Delicious!" he says, and she giggles. After an uncertain moment, Yamato follows suit, though he feels rather stupid. He sincerely hopes his son never wants to play imaginary teatime. Though he will probably come up with something equally as embarrassing when he's old enough. It's yet another aspect of parenting that Yamato has yet to give thought to, and makes him feel even more that he's not cut out for this. 

They play pretend with Luna for a little longer, and then mercifully Ratsuii declares it nap time, which she goes along with willingly enough. Finally they're alone in his kitchen, Luna already fast asleep in her bed. 

"Where are all your siblings at?" Yamato asks as Ratsuii hands him a soda from the fridge. He takes it with a thanks and pops the top with ease, watching the marble drop down before sipping at the drink. 

Ratsuii pulls out another chair and joins him at the table. "Koji's at his part-time job at the corner mart. I'm not sure where Kori and Tori are, they tend to keep to themselves and not let the rest of us in on their plans. So, what brings you here? I'm sure it wasn't to have pretend tea with my daughter." 

Yamato sighs, and looks down at the table. It's old and scuffed, the dark wood stained with discoloured rings from wet glasses. He traces one with his finger, not sure what to say now that he's here. 

Ratsuii watches him a moment, then gently asks, "Already having doubts?" 

He shrugs. "Maybe," he says quietly. 

"What's got you worrying?" 

He shrugs a second time, and then looks back up, indecision shadowing his blue eyes. "Just being stupid, I guess," he mumbles. 

"I doubt that. Come on, you went to the trouble of coming over. And you know me well enough by now to know I'm a good listener." 

He nods. He does know. "Okay. It's just... I went shopping with my dad and Takeru the other day. For baby stuff. It felt like we got so much stuff, and I still have to get more. And then my dad bought me three or four books on parenting... it was just a lot more than I had expected, or ever knew a baby needed. Diapers, sure. A crib, obviously. Stuffed animals and clothes, makes sense. But, all the other stuff... A changing table? Changing pads? Swaddle blankets? A diaper bag? Even a car seat! I don't even have a car!" 

"It freaked you out," Ratsuii says, understanding and empathy clear in his green eyes. 

He slumps back in his seat, rubbing a hand at his forehead. Just thinking about everything is starting to give him a headache. "I just didn't realise it would be all of this," he says sullenly, toying with his still full bottle of soda. "I'm wondering now if I'm really doing the right thing." 

"When you decided to keep the baby, how did you come to that decision?" 

He frowns, feeling confused. "What does that have to do with anything?" 

"Humour me," Ratsuii says, smiling slightly. 

"Well... Megumi originally said she was going to give him up for adoption, and that I could help her find someone to adopt him, or not help if I preferred. So I thought a lot about it, how things might go. I came up with scenarios in my head," Yamato explained. "What would happen if I didn't help her, what different things might happen if I did..." 

He presses his palms against his eyes, still remembering how thinking about those things happening had left him feeling empty. He lowers his hands again, looking at Ratsuii seriously. "I hated the thought of giving him up, whether I helped or not. The thought of my kid existing out there somewhere, maybe not even knowing _I_ existed, or knowing but never wanting to meet me... I couldn't stand it. Eventually I knew the only choice I had to make wasn't whether or not to keep the kid, it was when to tell my parents I was keeping my kid." 

"That's what you need to hold on to then," Ratsuii tells him gently. "When you're doubting yourself, or thinking that you can't do it, or you're doing the wrong thing, or even if other people are telling you that you can't... just think about how you felt at the thought of giving him up, and remind yourself that you _can_ do it. That no matter how difficult it gets, it's worth it because your son is in your life. Remind yourself that he'll grow up knowing he has a father who loves and cares for him and chose not to give him up even if it would have been easier." 

"Yeah... maybe so," he murmurs. He drains his bottle of soda quickly and tips it upside down, watching the marble plug the opening, then tips it back the other way, listening to the _clink_ as the marble drops down again. "Did you have to decide about Luna?" 

Ratsuii shakes his head. "Not in the way you did. Obviously Tsukiko and I didn't plan it, being so young, but neither of us ever considered giving the baby up. When I found out she was pregnant, I... I wasn't actually living at home at the time. I'd run away several months before. We had plans of her running away with me and raising it together. Of course, it didn't work out that way... And even then, even though I always knew from the start that I wanted the baby, I wondered a lot if we were doing the right thing. So I still have an idea of where you're coming from." 

He gets up, stretching quickly before throwing his empty bottle away. "Thanks," he says. "It helps." 

Ratsuii smiles, getting up as well. "Anytime," he says. "You know that." 

* * *

"Do we have to do this _now_?" Yamato whines, looking up at the brightly glowing sign that says 'StompStamp.' "The baby's not even going to be born for four more months still!" 

"Always be prepared!" Mimi says cheerfully, thrusting a fist in the air. 

Yamato stares at her, mild annoyance crossing his features as he folds his arms across his chest. "But four months just for clothes? Isn't that a bit much? And what are you even doing here, anyway?" 

"You said your mom was dragging you out for baby clothes today! I told you before I wanted to go!" 

"I didn't think you were actually serious," he mutters. 

"Oh come on, this'll be fun!" 

Yamato just sighs. His mom gives him an amused look. "You might as well get used to it... you're going to be clothes shopping for your kid for many years to come." 

He gives her a pained look in return, but heads into the store without another word of complaint. 

An hour later they're finally leaving. His arms are loaded down with bags stuffed full of clothes, and he'd had to veto several hideous things that Mimi tried to buy, but he can admit—at least to himself—that he'd had fun. It hadn't been nearly as overwhelming as buying all the other baby stuff, and picking out clothes and trying to imagine them on his future son had made him more excited for the baby to be born, and helped to chase away some of his doubts, if only temporarily. 

"See, that wasn't so bad!" Mimi says, poking him in the side. 

He bats her hand away and grumbles. "It could have been..." 

"Admit it! You enjoyed that!" 

"Nope," he says confidently, but she gives him a knowing smile. 

"Don't worry, I'll keep your secret," she tells him, and he just rolls his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In Japan, thrift shops are called "recycle shops." Also, I have Yamato going to a baby store called "StompStamp." While a real store in Japan, according to this blog (ameblo.jp/fruitfuldays/entry-11527193138.html), it seems the store didn't open til 2013. So just pretend :P


	6. Coming Closer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my favourite chapter for a number of reasons, so I hope you enjoy. This chapter is also the reason for the M rating.

All too soon, spring hols come to an end, and the new school year starts. Yamato's pleased to find he's in a class with Taichi again, and also Ratsuii this year. It doesn't take long for him to settle into a new routine, and the days fly by.

One day Ratsuii comes in with dark circles under his eyes, and he can barely seem to keep his eyes open or his head up during class. When lunchtime arrives, Yamato goes to sit by him while Taichi disappears to the bathroom. 

"You look like hell," he remarks, gesturing to Ratsuii's overtired face. "You not get much sleep?" 

Ratsuii groans and scrubs a hand over his face. "Luna's sick," he said. "She was up all night throwing up. I was lucky to get an hour's worth of sleep. I've gotta take her to the doctor after school, she'll probably be sick for a couple more days..." He sounds completely exhausted. 

"That sounds tough..." he says sympathetically. 

"Yeah, brace yourself for your own turn eventually," Ratsuii moans, resting his head on his desk. 

Yamato falls silent, taken off guard. He knows that he'll have to go to school while raising his kid, but he hasn't given too much thought to what that actually _means_. Staying up all night with a sick kid and then having to go to school the next day? It's not a thing he's considered. He feels like every time he gets a handle on some aspect of being a parent, a new part pops up and completely blindsides him. It's clear to him that he needs to learn a lot more still. 

* * *

"Please, Taichi?" 

It's the middle of May now, a good month and a half into the new school year, and Megumi's due date is fast approaching. Yamato feels like he's running out of time to learn how to be a parent before his baby arrives. 

Taichi makes a face at him. "Come on, parenting classes? I don't want to be a dad for at least ten more years!" 

He scoffs. "Going to a class with me isn't going to turn you into a dad, Taichi," he explains with faux patience. 

"I _know_ that, I'm not that stupid!" 

"Then what's the problem?" 

"Some things should just be a mystery!" 

"Pleeeeaaase, Taichi!" he begs, going for his best 'puppy-dog' look. This isn't his usual style, he's more likely to pretend that he doesn't care, but this is one thing he really doesn't want to chance Taichi not agreeing to, so if it means acting a bit unlike himself, he'll do it. "Don't make me go alone! I'll already be the only single dad there, and then probably the only teenager too! Please come with me!" 

Taichi lets out a groan and covers his face with his hands. "I'm going to regret this," he says, his voice muffled. 

Yamato beams, relieved. "Cheer up! It could be fun!" 

"I fail to see how..." Taichi mutters, but he looks back up at Yamato with a warm smile on his face. 

* * *

He's barely been in the room two minutes when the instructor approaches him and Taichi. "Excuse me, you two, but I think you have the wrong room." 

Yamato looks at her in confusion, while Taichi blushes and tries to hide behind him, still not wanting to be there. "This is where the receptionist told me to go..." 

"She must have got it wrong, or maybe misunderstood you. This is a class for expecting parents." 

He looks around at the room, at the naked baby dolls on the table by a large easel, and the various diagrams and pictures of foetal development and newborns and who knows what else plastered to the walls. Then he looks back at the instructor standing impatiently near him, her arms folded across her chest. She's short and thin, her long black hair done up in an imposing bun, and there's a stern look on her face. She's clearly trying to look fierce, but Yamato refuses to be intimidated. "Right," he says, nodding. 

"So you're in the wrong room." 

He blinks. "But you just said this is a class for expecting parents..." 

Behind him, Taichi whimpers and tries to sidle towards the door. 

"You're wanting to be in a class for expecting parents?" she asks doubtfully, looking him over. 

"Yes," he says, nodding again. "My dad signed me up." 

She frowns at him, lips pursed in annoyance. "This really isn't meant to be used as a warning class for teenagers... I'm sure your dad thought it would be a good idea, but—" 

"It's not like that," Yamato says, trying to sound earnest and innocent. He has to admit he's enjoying messing with her some. He doesn't like when people make stupid assumptions. "My dad signed me up because _I'm_ going to be a dad in a few months. Some girl I don't really like is having my son and I'm keeping him." 

"Then why isn't she here with you?" she asks sternly, glancing over to Taichi, who has reached the door now, and is trying to edge it open silently. 

He shrugs, then leans back and grabs Taichi by the arm, yanking him back up next to him and putting an arm around his best friend's shoulder. Taichi adopts a 'deer-in-headlights' look, which he cheerfully ignores. "She doesn't want the baby, and I didn't want to come here alone." 

She glances between the two of them. "I see," she says slowly. "Well, if this is where you and your boyfriend are supposed to be, go ahead and take a seat. The class will be starting soon." 

Yamato flushes at her misunderstanding, but doesn't try to correct her. He likes the thought of being seen as Taichi's boyfriend. "Thank you," he says sweetly instead, and drags Taichi over to one of the still-unclaimed blue mats on the floor. 

When they're seated, Taichi looks at him, a curious look on his face. "Why didn't you correct her?" he asks. 

He flushes again, but before he can think of anything to say, the instructor stands at the front of the group and begins to speak. 'Later,' he mouths at Taichi, and then looks away, pretending to listen intently. 

Five minutes later, Taichi's entire face is bright red and Yamato's regretting showing up himself, as their instructor goes on and on about cervix dilation, complete with illustrated pictures for emphasis. 

"Active labour takes you from about four centimetres to ten centimetres," she's saying. 

He desperately wants to seem adult while he's surrounded by all these other adult couples, so he doesn't show any visible reaction, but he can feel his stomach flipping over at her words and is pretty sure Taichi's is doing the same, judging by the look on his face. 

"It just means that the cervix is gone. Over the head," she continues. 

He's pretty sure he's going to lose it soon if she doesn't move on to a new subject. He's going to _kill_ his dad for signing him up for this. Sure, he'd mentioned wanting to learn more about being a parent, but he doesn't see how _this_ is supposed to help him raise his son. 

"So the thinner part, where it goes from being a doorknob, to a mushroom, to a fat pancake, to a thin pancake..." 

If he'd had an appetite before, he definitely doesn't now. This is more than he's ever wanted to know about the female anatomy. Hell, just the night with Megumi had been more than he'd wanted to know. He hasn't really bothered trying to label his sexuality so far, but 'straight' isn't it. 

"I'm going to kill you for dragging me along to this," Taichi hisses in his ear, unknowingly echoing his earlier similar thoughts, and he can only give his best friend an apologetic look. 

Half an hour later, he's desperately wishing their instructor was still up there talking about cervix dilation as he looks at Taichi in a slight panic. 

"Why do I have to be the mom," Taichi is grousing. 

"Because I'm the actual dad," Yamato tells him, and takes a deep breath before putting his hands on Taichi's back. He begins to do the massaging motions the instructor is showing them, trying to copy what she's doing and ignore how _intimate_ the action is, and how unsettled it makes him feel. His crush is suddenly raging at the forefront of his mind, and he swallows and hopes fervently that he doesn't embarrass himself in any way. 

Somehow, he stumbles through the rest of it without making an idiot of himself, and at last the class is over with. He and Taichi soon find themselves standing outside the building in the evening sun, and he's trying to calm his surging hormones and wondering how he's supposed to survive the other two classes he's still signed up for. There's a slight breeze in the air, carrying a warmth that hints at the summer weather just around the corner. 

"The last half wasn't so bad," Taichi remarks cheerfully, stretching his newly-massaged back and shoulders. "I could get used to that." 

He groans, his mind still stuck on all of the awful things he'd had to think about to avoid embarrassing himself. "I need a drink after that." 

"Isn't that what got you into this in the first place?" Taichi asks, smirking. 

Yamato rolls his eyes. "Well I can hardly get _you_ pregnant," he says flippantly, not really thinking about it. It's only when Taichi's eyes widen at the implications in his statement that he realises what he's said. He tries to backtrack, blushing. "I didn't mean it like that!" 

"How did you mean it then?" Taichi asks, and there's something in his voice that makes him think his best friend really wants to know. That he isn't joking around. 

"I just—I meant—" he flounders for a moment, at a loss. He doesn't know how to answer. He's not ready to admit his crush, too terrified of rejection and feeling too vulnerable after the last half hour. "I just really need a drink!" he finally says, avoiding the subject. 

Taichi looks at him for a moment, and he thinks despairingly that Taichi isn't going to let it go, that he's going to press until he's got the truth—but Taichi's apparently a better friend than he gives him credit for, for he takes pity on him. "Your dad still keep the alcohol in the top cabinet?" 

"Yeah..." 

"Come on, then," he says, and starts to walk down the sidewalk toward Odaiba Seaside Park Station. After a brief hesitation, Yamato follows him. 

* * *

Two hours later, the alcohol is a pleasantly warm fire in his stomach, and he realises he's drunk. His dad's thankfully not home, having left a note on the fridge. 

_Working extra late tonight_ , it had read. _Be home around eleven or so most likely. Do whatever you like for supper. -Dad_

He and Taichi had started out sipping on his dad's beers he'd found in the fridge, commiserating about the horrible experience that had been that class and playing some video games to unwind. They'd abandoned both the beers and the games an hour ago, and were now just sitting around on the floor, swapping the bottles of hard liquor they'd swiped back and forth, enjoying each other's company. 

"You're really pretty, you know," Taichi says at one point, reaching out to pat Yamato's hair with a goofy smile on his face. 

He tries to bat Taichi's hand away and misses, falling back against the front of the sofa. "Are you trying to flirt with me?" he asks, his words coming out slightly slurred. He goes to take another drink and realises the bottle is empty. He holds it up in front of his face, looking through the clear glass with a pouty look on his face, wondering if he can will more alcohol into existence with just his mind. 

"Maybe," Taichi says, scooting closer, and it takes him a moment to remember his own question. "I can't help it. You're just too pretty." 

Yamato blushes, not knowing how to respond to that. 

"But now you're gonna be a dad... You probably won't have time for dating..." Taichi sounds saddened by this thought, and pats Yamato's hair again. 

He tilts his head slightly away, looking speculatively at the other boy near him. "That's not true..." he says hesitantly. He can have time for dating. Can't he? If it's Taichi? "Is it?" 

Taichi just sighs, and runs his fingers through Yamato's hair, petting it. It feels really nice, so he gives up trying to move away and leans in to the touch. They're mostly quiet for a time, though little noises of contentment at Taichi's ministrations escape him every now and then. 

He wonders at his best friend. Does Taichi like him that way? He's certainly acting like it... Yamato so desperately wants it to be true, wants Taichi to return his crush, but before tonight Taichi's never given any hint of it, and he's keenly aware that Taichi's just as trashed as he is. It's not a stretch to think that Taichi's attentions are only being caused by his inebriated state. 

He doesn't want to think anymore. It makes his head hurt. He'd rather just act and hate himself for it in the morning. "You're pretty too," he tells Taichi eventually. Even sloshed, his heart feels like it's about to pound right out of his chest at what he's admitting, though he knows he can blame it on the alcohol later if he has to. 

Taichi beams at him. "Thanks!" 

He grabs the other bottle from Taichi's slack hands and takes a drink, needing some more liquid courage, and pulls slightly away from the other teen. He looks at him, studying him, trying to gauge how he might react. Taichi seems relaxed and content, and has a silly smile on his face still, which widens when he realises Yamato is watching him. 

Swallowing, he leans in slowly, so that Taichi can stop him if he wants. Taichi doesn't, and after a moment their lips are touching, and then they're kissing. Taichi's lips are soft, and warm, and he feels amazing. It's better than anything Yamato has ever fantasized, simply because it's _real_. 

They break apart what feels like an eternity later, eyes wide. They merely look at each other, neither speaking, and then Taichi smiles at him, and leans in again. 

* * *

Yamato moans loudly. His hands are fisted in Taichi's hair and Taichi's lips are wrapped tightly around his dick, applying just the right amount of suction, and he doesn't even know what Taichi's tongue is doing exactly, but it feels absolutely _incredible_. They're both still somewhat drunk and their clothes have been shed ages ago, strewn haphazardly around the living room. Yamato's already sucked Taichi's dick, and is very much enjoying Taichi's enthusiastic reciprocation. 

When the front door opens, he doesn't register it right away. Taichi's swallowing him down deep, and he's babbling a mix of praise and curse words as his balls tighten, eyes shut tight, head thrown back, his orgasm getting closer. 

Then his dad shouts. 

His eyes snap open in horror, and he flings his head forward to meet his dad's equally horrified gaze, letting out a shriek as he tries to push Taichi away from him with one hand and cover himself with the other. Taichi, not expecting such a movement, also begins to yell. He looks at Yamato in confusion for a moment, before he swings around and sees Mr. Ishida, then he yells again, scrambling up from his position on the floor, lunging for a sofa cushion to cover his nudity. 

His dad brings a hand up to shield his eyes, and somehow manages to cross through the living room into the kitchen without looking at them or tripping over the mess they've made of everything. Once he's gone, they both hurry to get dressed, stumbling and half-tipping over a few times in their drunken unsteady balance. In their haste, they wind up wearing each other's shirts, but neither of them cares to fix it. 

"Are you two decent yet?" his dad calls after a few minutes have passed. 

"Yes," they chime back together, and his dad steps back in the room. He observes the empty bottle of gin, the half-empty bottle of rum, the scattered empty cans of beer, and empty torn open snack wrappers strewn around, as well as the long-abandoned game still up on the television screen and the cushions Taichi had pulled off the sofa while Yamato had been blowing him. Looking at the mess they've made, Yamato feels mortified. 

"Didn't you learn anything from your last drunken foray?" his dad remarks, shaking his head. 

"Guess not..." he mumbles, hanging his head in shame. Beside him, Taichi remains quiet. 

His dad sighs. "Taichi, call your mom and tell her you're staying here for the night because you got drunk and I'm not up to driving you this late, nor do I trust you to walk home safely. Then the both of you can go to bed, it's nearly midnight. We'll talk about this tomorrow, Yamato." 

"Yes, sir..." Taichi goes over to the phone in the living room and picks up the receiver, pressing the buttons for his home number. Yamato attempts to pick up the room some while his dad disappears back into the kitchen. He dusts the pillows off and puts them back on the sofa, listening to Taichi's side of the conversation. 

"Hi, Mom... Yes, my words are slurred... I might have gotten sort of drunk..." He pauses for a moment, wincing. Yamato guesses she's angry. "At Yamato's... His dad is here now... No, not earlier... He says I'm staying here tonight, that he's not driving me and I guess doesn't want me to walk because I'm still a little drunk." He stops again to listen and looks at Yamato, making a face. "Okay... Okay... I'll see you in the morning. Love you too. Bye." He hangs up with a groan. 

Yamato goes over to their game and turns off the console, nearly tripping over the cords, and shoves the whole thing towards the television, out of the middle of the room. Then he starts picking up some of the trash, Taichi stumbling over to help. He doesn't even bother with the partially full bottle of alcohol for now, figuring he can get it in the morning. "Come on, let's go to bed," he says wearily. They stop in the kitchen to throw the empty cans and wrappers away, then head down the hall to his room, turning out the lights as they go. His dad's already gone to his own bedroom, presumably gone to bed himself. 

Once they're there, they both strip down to their boxers. Yamato grabs a clean t-shirt from his dresser to sleep in, tossing a second one to Taichi. He then turns out the light and they climb into his bed together, awkwardly laying side by side. 

After a few minutes of silence, Taichi speaks up quietly. "That didn't end as well as I'd hoped..." 

"At least you got off," he grumbles. He'd been so close, too. 

"I can remedy that if you'd like," Taichi says, and he can practically hear the smirk in the other boy's voice. 

"With my dad in the other room now?" Yamato hisses at him. 

"Why not?" he replies flippantly. "I'll be quiet. Here." He throws back the plain blue sheets and sits up, quickly arranging himself between Yamato's legs and pulling his boxers down. 

"Taichi... no... he'll hear..." 

"Not if you stop talking," Taichi tells him, and then lowers his head. 

Yamato lets out a low moan as he's engulfed in wet, warm heat. It takes him no time at all to get hard again. He feels Taichi's tongue flick lightly against the head as he hollows his cheeks, and he curls his fingers into the bedsheets, the sensations overwhelming him. A few minutes later he's coming, biting down on his lip to keep from crying out. Taichi swallows it all down, cleaning the rest with his tongue, and he shudders at how sensitive his dick feels. Once Taichi moves away, he pulls his boxers back up, and then Taichi lays down next to him again, throwing the sheets back over them. 

"Thanks," Yamato mumbles, already feeling relaxed and sleepy. 

"My pleasure," Taichi whispers. 

A few minutes later he's fast asleep, snoring softly, and Yamato quickly follows suit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not a parent and have never been to a parenting class, so I based the one Yamato and Taichi went to off of these two youtube videos: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVOP-ob4ZXA) and (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmgvIVfM5NY). The lines the instructor says for the class were taken from the first video verbatim.


	7. Honey

He wakes the next morning with a pounding headache and nauseous stomach so familiar, he has to turn his head and make sure it's not Megumi in the bed next to him.

Taichi meets his bleary gaze with a groan. "I'm never getting drunk again," he mumbles. 

Yamato covers his eyes with a hand, finding the morning sunlight shining in through his window too bright to deal with just now. "Yeah, that's what I said the first time. And yet here I am." 

Taichi sighs. "My mom told me to come home almost as soon as I woke up... Got any painkillers?" 

"Yeah... in the bathroom. The medicine cabinet." 

He feels the motion from Taichi's nod, and then groans at the stab of pain in his head that accompanies the shifting from Taichi throwing back the sheets and getting out of bed. He hears Taichi pad to the door and go around the corner into the bathroom, rummaging around in the medicine cabinet until he finds the paracetamol. He takes away his hand and stumbles out of bed himself, heading down the hall to get them both some water, and hoping he doesn't get sick before he can get the painkillers down. 

Forty-five minutes later, he's feeling a little better as he waves goodbye to Taichi and shuts the door behind him. However, he can hear the noises of his dad making his usual Saturday morning pot of coffee, and knows he's going to be in for a lecture soon. 

He's right. No sooner than he walks into the kitchen to swipe a cup of the coffee, his dad starts in on him. "I'm very disappointed in you, Yamato," his dad says, and he winces. Once again his dad's got that quiet angry voice going on. 

"I'm sorry," he apologises softly as he slides into one of the chairs at the table, keeping his head down. His dad's disappointment feels worse than the lingering hangover. 

"It's not even the alcohol itself that upsets me so much," his dad continues on sternly, pouring himself a second cup before grabbing a mug down from the cabinet and pouring Yamato one as well. His dad fixes it the way he likes it, just a bit of milk and no sugar, before sliding it across the table to him. "It's that you stole _my_ alcohol, and then got irresponsibly drunk on a good bit of it, involving your best friend and making a mess in the meantime I might add. Just that would have been bad enough, but you then proceeded to... fool around, out in the living room where I could walk in and discover you." 

He swirls his coffee around gently as he listens guiltily, knowing his dad is right. He and Taichi had been pretty dumb last night. His face flames when he recalls his dad walking in on Taichi blowing him. Some of the night is a little fuzzy, but he definitely remembers that part. Still... "So you would have preferred me and Taichi to just hide things?" 

His dad sighs as Yamato looks up at him, meeting his eyes. "The alcohol, not so much. I told you before, I get that you're young, alcohol seems exciting and fun and it's easy to drink more than you mean and wind up trashed. I _would_ have preferred you not drink all of mine, or make a mess of the living room, or involve Taichi when it's my apartment. The sexual acts, however, definitely should have been done in your bedroom behind a locked door so I didn't have to see!" 

His dad's face is red, and it suddenly occurs to him that his dad isn't nearly as mad so much as he's _embarrassed_. Well, Yamato can get that. He rather feels the same way. 

"So you don't care that Taichi and I were..." he trails off, not about to say the words "blowing each other" to his dad. He takes a sip of his coffee instead. 

"No," his dad says, shaking his head. "You're seventeen now, you're plenty old enough, even if you weren't about to have a child of your own. Your sex life is none of my business. Just please keep me out of it in the future." 

"Sorry..." he says, reddening again. 

"Also," his dad adds, "you'll be going over to Natsuko's tomorrow, doing whatever chores she needs you to do for the whole day." He looks at Yamato. His face is somewhat solemn, but Yamato can see a hint of amusement dancing in his dark eyes. "This is for stealing my alcohol, getting drunk in the living room, and making a mess of it. Not for anything else." 

Yamato groans, but doesn't bother to protest. All things told, he figures he's getting off lightly. 

"Since we're on the subject of Taichi, however... are you two dating?" 

A faint blush creeps across his face. "I don't really know..." he admits, biting down on his lip. "Last night just sort of happened..." 

His dad laughs at that, shaking his head. "Oh kiddo, I think you need to stay away from alcohol for awhile," he says, mirth clearly visible in his face. 

"This is different!" he protests feebly. "I mean... sort of. I like Taichi, at least!" He frowns, having a faint recall of Taichi running fingers through his hair. Had Taichi called him pretty? He doesn't know if he wants to be thought of as _pretty_ , exactly, but... "I think he likes me too?" he says uncertainly. 

"So talk to him," his dad says simply. "This afternoon, perhaps." 

"That soon?" he squeaks, eyes large. 

His dad shrugs at him, getting up for a final cup of coffee. It reminds him of his own cooling cup of coffee, and he drains most of it down, because it's easier than thinking about talking to Taichi. "It's better to do it now," his dad says, "than to let it sit between you for days or weeks, possibly festering as you each try to figure each other out, and potentially ruining the friendship." 

"But what if he says no?" 

"He might," his dad agrees. "And in that case, you'll have to learn to be satisfied with just having his friendship, and things might be tense for a little while. But I don't think he will." 

His dad rinses out the now empty pot of coffee, and picks up his mug, carrying it with him to the living room, where he's likely settling into his recliner. Yamato watches him go, falling silent as he thinks about his dad's words. 

* * *

"I'm going out," Yamato announces later that afternoon, slipping on his shoes. "I won't be too long." 

"Be careful," his dad tells him, looking up from the television. 

He just nods, grabbing his keys off the hook and opening the door. When he reaches the park, Taichi is already there, waiting for him underneath a tree, scooping up handfuls of bare earth and letting it fall back to the ground through his fingers. "Hey," he greets, approaching his best friend. 

Taichi looks up, a cautious smile on his face. "Hey." 

"Feeling any better?" he asks, settling down on the ground across from him. 

Taichi nods, abandoning the dirt to look at him instead. "Yeah, mostly. You?" 

"Yeah. Though dad lectured me about stealing his alcohol and getting 'irresponsibly drunk' by involving you. But I got away with only having to go do chores for my mom all day tomorrow." 

Taichi lets off a groan. "Lucky! My mom took away my game system for a week, _and_ said I'll have more chores than usual. Including running whatever errands she needs the whole week." 

He makes a face, glad his dad hadn't been that harsh. Really, his dad had actually been amazingly understanding about most of it. "That sucks," he says, sympathy in his voice. 

They fall quiet, and Yamato looks away, studying the clear sky instead. There's a few large fluffy clouds floating in it. If he squints, one of them sort of looks like a rabbit. He thinks about pointing it out, but doesn't. He's worried. What if Taichi says no? What if it was just the alcohol? Taichi means so much to him, but he doesn't know if he can handle a rejection. But he doesn't want their friendship destroyed either. 

He looks back at Taichi, who's simply watching him. It's clear Taichi's waiting for him to speak first. Inwardly he sighs. He hopes he doesn't lose his best friend over this. "Taichi, about last night—" He pauses, wondering how to phrase it. There's really no easy way. 

"Yeah?" 

"Was that just because we were drunk?" 

"Do you want it to be?" Taichi asks him quietly. He can't tell what Taichi's thinking. It's frustrating. He doesn't want to lie to Taichi, but he doesn't want an honest answer to ruin everything either. He figures he owes Taichi an honest answer though. They've been friends for six years, Taichi deserves at least that much. 

"...No," he finally admits, looking away again. 

"Then no, it wasn't because we were drunk. I like you, Yamato," Taichi says seriously, and Yamato feels his breath catch in his throat at the admission. As much as he'd hoped, he'd been too afraid to let himself truly believe Taichi liked him back, but now here he is confessing it. "I know you're going to have a kid soon and that changes things a bit," Taichi continues, "and you might be busy a lot, but... I like you. I like you a lot. I wouldn't mind, you know, trying this dating thing and seeing where it goes." His voice is earnest, and hopeful, and just a touch anxious. 

"I like you too," he says in return as he faces his friend again, a light blush staining his cheeks, even as his heart flutters happily in his chest. Taichi likes him! He does! He didn't ruin things! "I'd—I'd kind of like to see too." 

Taichi smiles warmly at him. "Would you like to go to Palette Town with me next Saturday? Around noon?" 

"Yeah, I'd like that," he says, the blush still there. Taichi's actually asking him out. On a date! 

"Great! It's a date then!" Taichi says, grinning broadly now, relief in his eyes, and it occurs to him that Taichi had probably been as nervous as he had. "I'll pick you up at noon from your apartment." 

"Okay," he agrees, unable to fight off the silly grin spreading across his own face. "Next Saturday at noon." 

* * *

Sunday morning finds Yamato standing in front of the door to Natsuko's apartment, fidgeting anxiously as he puts off knocking. He doesn't want to think about what kind of chores his mom might dream up for him. He knows prolonging it won't really help though, and will just make the day even longer, so eventually he raises a fist and bangs on the door. 

Several moments later his mom is pulling the door open, looking surprised to see him. "You're not going to tell me you got a second girl pregnant, are you?" she opens with in lieu of a greeting. 

He sighs. "Dad says I have to do your chores for the day." 

His mom raises an eyebrow in amusement, catching on right away. "What's the crime?" 

He turns bright red, still embarrassed over the whole thing. "Taichi and I drank a bunch of his alcohol and got drunk in the living room..." There's no way he's telling his mom what else he and Taichi got up to. And what he's said is true, since his dad did say that was the only part he was going to be punished for. 

"Why do I feel there's more to that story?" she asks, but she opens the door wider and steps aside, letting him come in. He steps through reluctantly. 

He stands in the middle of her living room, listening in despair as she starts listing off chores for him to do. She stops after five, but he knows it's only the beginning. And sure enough, she says, "When you're done with those, come find me and I'll have more for you to do." 

"I will," he mumbles, and pulls the vacuum out of the hall closet to get started on the first chore. 

Some time later, Takeru wanders in, still in his pyjamas, his hair still mussed from sleep. He blinks and looks at his older brother in surprise, then covers his mouth as he yawns. "Morning," he greets. 

"Good morning," Yamato says in return, as he continues to dust the multitude of knick-knacks scattered around the room. He raises his eyes in surprise as he looks up and catches sight of the design in the center of his brother's pyjama top. It's a cutesy mini-version of Patamon. 

Takeru notices him staring, and shrugs. "Mom sewed it on for me," he says, and Yamato's surprised to feel a slight stab of old resentment at that. He's mostly moved away from those feelings and forgiven his mother, but every now and then they creep back up on him. 

Takeru wanders off again, presumably to get dressed and have breakfast. Yamato just continues to do the chores he's been assigned, bored out of his mind. He hopes Takeru will stick around for awhile and keep him company, instead of going out to hang with his friends. However, he does have to admit his dad's punishment is pretty effective. The next time he thinks about getting drunk, he certainly won't be taking his dad's alcohol and doing it in the living room. 

Half an hour later, a more awake and dressed Takeru wanders back into the living room, plopping down on the sofa. He watches Yamato clean for several minutes, amusement clear in his expression. "What'd you do?" he eventually asks, after Yamato has gotten the second list of chores from their mother and once again been told to come find her for more when he's finished. 

"Stole Dad's alcohol and got drunk with Taichi in the living room," he answers promptly. 

Takeru grins. "Didn't you learn your lesson from last time?" 

He sighs. "Apparently not..." He's smiling as he says it, though. He definitely likes this outcome a lot more than the last one. 

Takeru watches him a while longer, following him when he moves to the kitchen to start in on the chores there. He grabs a bag of wasabi peas off the counter before taking a seat at the table. "Have you decided on a name yet?" he asks, shoving a handful of peas in his mouth. 

Yamato pauses in his cleaning and stares at him for a moment. "Didn't you just eat breakfast?" 

Takeru hastily swallows his mouthful before he speaks. "That was almost an hour ago. Besides, I'm a growing boy!" He grins, pulling out a second handful. 

Yamato just rolls his eyes and goes back to his sweeping. After a moment, he says, "I was thinking about Naoki..." 

Takeru's face lights up. "I love it!" he exclaims. "It's perfect!" 

He smiles slightly. He'd spent quite a while going through the baby book his dad had bought, looking for a name he liked. When he'd seen the name "Naoki" it had immediately felt right, even if it was a somewhat traditional name like the ones he'd poked fun at his brother for. "Really?" 

"Yeah, it's great," Takeru told him sincerely. "I really like it. Mom, Yamato's gonna name his kid Naoki!" his brother raises his voice as he calls down the hall. "Isn't a good name?" he asks her as she pops out of her office and into the kitchen. 

She smiles at him. "I think it's a lovely name," she says. 

He blushes. "Thanks." 

* * *

When he lets himself into the apartment that evening, exhausted from all the cleaning he's been doing all day, his dad's in the kitchen, opening up various take-out boxes. He sighs at the delicious smell wafting around the room. "I hope some of that's for me," he remarks with a grin. 

His dad smiles as he grabs some plates out of the cabinet. "I picked it up when you texted that you'd be home soon," his dad says, handing one of the plates to him. "I figured you'd be too tired to cook anything." 

He takes a seat at the table with a groan, pulling one of the boxes closer to him as he starts unloading some rice onto his plate. "I didn't know that many chores could be done in one day." 

"A very effective lesson, I'm sure," his dad says, voice a touch smug as he sets down some drinks in front of them. 

He rolls his eyes. "Don't worry, I'll buy my own alcohol from now on and keep it out of sight." 

"I'm not sure that was exactly what I had intended..." 

Yamato grins at him. 

They eat in silence for a bit, comfortable enough with it and each other to not need to fill the room with small talk. Not to mention he's starving. He had lunch with his mom and brother, but that's been quite a few hours ago now, and he's worked up an appetite with all the cleaning he's done. He's halfway through his meal before he speaks up. "I've picked out a name." 

"Oh?" his dad asks curiously, looking up from his food. "What have you decided on?" 

"Naoki." 

"Naoki..." his dad muses, trying it out. "Ishida Naoki. It's a nice name." He smiles at Yamato, his eyes warm, a hint of affection breaking through his normally reserved demeanor. "I like it." 

He smiles back, feeling slightly embarrassed at how much his parents' approval of his name choice means to him. "Thanks. Mom and Takeru did too. I saw it in the name book and it just seemed right." 

"It's good," his dad says. "I'm sure Naoki will appreciate it when he's older." 

He just blushes, ducking his head as he focuses on his food again. 

* * *

Saturday, the day of his and Taichi's date, eventually rolls around. He's up early, showering and spending time fixing up his hair until he's satisfied it looks good. He then spends the next half hour staring into his closet, cursing every piece of clothing he owns and wishing he'd taken the time to buy something new. He tries on several different outfits, scowling at himself in the mirror with each one before he finally settles on a pair of tight dark jeans and a short-sleeved forest green button down he's only worn a few times, along with a simple black chain around his neck. 

Once he's ready he looks at the clock by his bed and realises he's still got an hour and half before it's noon. He sighs and wonders what to do. He's too nervous to eat breakfast, so that's out. He looks around his room, resisting the urge to run his hand through his hair, not wanting to mess it up already. Finally his eyes settle on the song journal Taichi bought him for his birthday. He plucks it up from his desk and throws himself down onto his bed, rummaging through the nightstand for a pen. He uncaps it, absently sticking the cap in his mouth to chew on as he opens the journal and stares down at a clean page. 

Fifteen minutes later Yamato groans in frustration and closes the still empty journal, giving it up as a bad job. He can't focus. He wants it to be noon. He gets up and goes over to the full-length mirror again, making sure he still looks okay. Then he goes over to his desk and pulls out both ultrasound pictures, taking them out of the envelope to look at again. If this works out between him and Taichi, and they stay together, that would make Taichi a sort of second dad to Naoki. He wonders if Taichi's thought about it, and how he might feel about it. 

He stays lost in thought, daydreaming about the future, until at last the doorbell's ringing. He starts, and looks back at his clock. It's noon. _Finally_. He grins, and carefully puts the pictures back up before racing to the living room and pulling the door open to greet his date. 

"Hey," Taichi says easily, smiling at him. "You ready?" He's dressed up for their date a little, wearing an obviously new pair of jeans and a short-sleeved light blue button down shirt, and he's attempted to tame his wild hair some, spiking it up neater than usual. He looks really good, and Yamato feels a spark of arousal go through him. 

He swallows and nods, suddenly feeling a little too nervous to speak. He pulls the door shut behind him and follows Taichi to the elevator, still quiet. 

They get in and push the button for the ground floor. Taichi smiles at him again. "Relax," he says. "It's still me." 

"Sorry," Yamato says with a nervous little laugh. "I've just kind of wanted this for awhile... Now that it's here it feels a little like a dream." He blushes, not believing he's just admitted that. 

But to his relief, Taichi blushes as well. "Me too," he says. 

When they finally arrive at the promenade in Palette Town, Yamato summons up every ounce of courage he has and slips his hand in Taichi's. "Where are we going first?" he asks, hoping Taichi won't pull his hand away. 

He feels Taichi's fingers curl around his, tightening briefly, and his heart skips. "I was thinking we could have lunch first, unless you've eaten?" Taichi says hesitantly. 

"Lunch is good," he says, smiling. Trust Taichi to think of food first, not that he minds. He wouldn't be Taichi otherwise. "Venus Fort?" 

"Sure." They head over to the mall, still holding hands, and Yamato thinks he couldn't be any happier. 

They eventually decide on a place called 'Tanto Tanto,' which he thinks is a somewhat strange name, but the food is really good. They split a pizza, and Yamato's able to relax more while they eat and chat. They keep it light and casual—no talk of the baby, or how their relationship might go. Afterwards they wander throughout the mall some, stopping to browse through any interesting looking shops every now and then, exclaiming over funny or weird items. He's having a really good time, and hopes Taichi is too. 

After they tire of the mall, they decide to head over to Leisureland. Though it was built two years ago, it's his first time going there, and he stares at the inside of the building in awe, impressed by all the noises and lights and many attractions. They try their hand at some bowling first, both laughing when almost all of their balls wind up in the gutter. When Yamato at last hits three pins, Taichi cheers for him, making him blush. They're the only three pins either of them hits for the rest of the game, meaning Yamato wins. 

"Beginner's luck," Taichi says, grinning, and Yamato doesn't disagree with him. 

They try some table tennis next, and Taichi manages to score a few points against him, having learned a thing or two from watching several of Sora's tennis matches, or at least that's what Yamato tells himself to feel better. Once they're bored of tennis, they decide to just walk around, checking out the attractions but not playing any more. They wander up and down the floors and eventually find themselves back outside, staring up at the giant ferris wheel. 

"Wanna ride?" Taichi asks him. 

He's been on it plenty of times before in the years since it was built—but never on a date. "Sure," he says, blushing faintly. 

Taichi smiles at him and grabs his hand again, and they make their way over to the ferris wheel, getting in line. The attendant tries to stick them on a green car, but Taichi shakes his head and makes them wait until a pink car comes along. The attendant raises an eyebrow as they climb on, but says nothing. Yamato flushes again. 

They ride the first few minutes side-by-side in silence, watching the cityscape below them as they gradually climb higher. 

"I had fun today," Yamato eventually says softly, still looking out the windows. 

Taichi reaches for his hand, squeezing it. "Me too." 

He looks over at Taichi then, smiling gently before leaning in. Taichi meets him, and then they're kissing, softly at first before deepening it, their tongues exploring each others' mouths, tasting and learning. 

It feels right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Japanese attitudes about underage drinking are generally pretty relaxed, from what information I could find. So I decided to do sort of a blend of Japanese and (more liberal) American attitudes, which is why Yamato's punishment was pretty mild and focused more on the 'theft' of his dad's alcohol and his behaviour while drunk.
> 
> Also, all the places I mentioned Taichi and Yamato going on their date are real, as usual! See you guys next Saturday!


	8. Birth!

"I'm home!" Yamato calls, letting himself in to the apartment.

"Welcome home," his dad greets him, stepping out of the kitchen. 

Yamato spots a spatula in his hand, and panics. "You're... you're cooking?" he asks fearfully. 

"Just reheating some leftovers..." his dad says defensively. "In fact—" 

"Please don't burn the apartment down," Yamato says as his dad cuts himself off and darts back into the kitchen, frantically cursing at the stove. He sighs and heads in, wondering if the food is salvageable. 

Luckily the food hasn't really started to burn yet, and he's able to rescue it from his dad's clutches, taking over until it's thoroughly heated, sliding it onto a plate and setting it on the table in front of him. 

"Thank you," his dad says, looking chagrined. He just waves it away, taking a seat himself. He's enjoyed himself today, but he's tired out after several hours of walking. 

"You were gone for awhile," his dad eventually remarks, not looking up. 

"I was on a date," he says, face colouring slightly. 

His dad does look up then, studying him briefly. "Ah. With Taichi?" 

He colours even more, if such a thing is possible. "Yeah." 

"I had a feeling you two would start dating," his dad says, smirking slightly, before finishing up the last bites of his meal. He gets up and carries his plate over to the sink, rinsing it off before setting it carefully down. Then he turns around and leans against the counter, looking at Yamato. "Didn't I say he wouldn't tell you no?" 

"Yeah. You were right," Yamato admits. 

"Well, I'm happy for you both. Just please don't ever let me catch you in the act again." 

He groans. His dad is never going to let the incident go, he can tell. "Do you have to keep bringing that up?" 

"What kind of parent would I be if I didn't?" 

"A nicer one?" he says teasingly, shaking his head. Still, he's glad his dad is taking everything so well. Several things over the last months could have gone a lot worse. He resolves to get his dad a card or something soon. 

* * *

May rolls into June, and the rainy season along with it. A lot of the days are overcast and dreary, the grey clouds leeching away any potential warmth, and even though he knows it won't last, the rain feels endless. Megumi's due date is getting closer, and the weather serves to influence Yamato's mood. Despite talking with Ratsuii several times about it, he's still doubting himself. He's read the parenting books, he's finished the parenting classes his dad had signed him up for, but he still doesn't feel like he knows the first thing about being a parent, especially a single one. 

When he finds himself tossing and turning in bed one night, staring at the red numbers on his clock as they slowly tick away the hour, he knows he can't let it keep eating away at him anymore. He throws back the covers with a sigh, sliding out of bed and into his slippers, padding out of his room and down the dark hallway to his dad's closed bedroom door. 

He knocks gently on the door, softly calling, "Dad?" 

There's a moment's silence, and then his dad's sleep-fogged voice mumbles, "Yamato? Everything okay?" 

He feels bad upon realising he's woken his dad, but he doesn't let it stop him. "I can't sleep," he says, still softly. "Can I come in and talk to you?" 

There's some rustling, and a click as his dad turns on the small lamp beside his bed. "Yeah, come in," his dad says, clearing his throat. 

He gropes around for the knob and then pushes the door open, squinting as light floods the hallway. His dad's already sitting up in bed, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He goes in and sits down on the other side of the bed, automatically beginning to pick at some fluff on his dad's jade green blanket. 

His dad watches him for a bit, taking the time to wake up, before he eventually speaks. "I doubt you came in here just to pick apart my covers," his dad says gently. "What's bothering you?" 

He shrugs, feeling a little silly now that he's actually in here. "Just stupid stuff," he mutters. 

His dad reaches out, placing his hand on top of Yamato's, stilling his motions. "I know I'm not exactly the best person with words and emotions, and I see a lot of that in you too, but you _can_ talk to me, Yamato. I'll do my best to listen, and not judge you or think you 'stupid,' as you say." 

He looks up at that, and gives his dad a weak smile. "When you and mom divorced, was it hard?" 

His dad frowns, as if he's unsure why Yamato's asking the question. "Well, it wasn't easy. I still loved your mom, we just knew we couldn't be together anymore." 

He smiles slightly, knowing it's his fault for not being more clear. "No, I meant... with me. Having to be a single dad all of a sudden." 

"Ah." A knowing look comes across his dad's face at that, and he takes a moment before speaking again. "It was... difficult. When you were a baby I had your mom and grandparents to share the responsibility with, so it didn't seem as scary," his dad says. Then he sighs. "But suddenly it was just me. I was the only person there to make sure you were clothed, bathed, fed... When I would be tired, or not feeling well, or just needing a break... there wasn't anyone there to give me one anymore. It was a big weight on my shoulders." 

He swallows, not feeling reassured by that in the least. "I'm scared," he admits softly. 

His dad chuckles, though he can tell it's not meant to make fun. "I'd be more worried if you weren't." His dad looks at him, face going solemn. "It's not going to be easy, Yamato. And yes, as a single dad it'll be even tougher. There are going to be nights where you don't get any sleep, and you won't have any choice but to just keep going through the next day and hope you make it. There's going to be times when you're so frustrated and worn out that all you want to do is curl up in a ball and cry, but you simply won't have the time. There's going to be a lot of moments where you realise you don't have any idea what you're doing, and you'll wonder why you ever thought you could be a dad. It may be the most difficult thing you've ever done in your life." 

He raises an eyebrow at that. "More than saving the Digital World twice?" 

"Though I couldn't go with you kids to see what your battles consisted of, most likely, yes. Saving the Digital World isn't a lifelong event. Being a dad is." 

"Not exactly making me look forward to being one, Dad," he mutters. 

His dad lets out another chuckle. "I don't want to sugarcoat it for you. I don't want you thinking you'll just be able to breeze though this parenting thing. But you _will_ learn, Yamato, just like all the rest of us parents did. And I promise, the first time your son smiles at you, or laughs, or calls you daddy... moments like that are what make all the self-doubt and frustration and exhaustion worth it. Even though it'll be tough, I know you'll make a great dad, Yamato." 

He sighs. He's not sure yet if he feels any better about his impending fatherhood, but his dad's confidence in him warms him. He smiles at his dad. "I hope so." 

* * *

_I want to be at the birth, if the offer still stands. If your parents won't kill me._

_Yes, it does. It's just my mom in there. She won't._

_Okay._

_I'll arrange things. One of my parents will call whenever it's time._

_Mid-July, right?_

_Yes, if everything goes well._

_Great. Thanks._

_You're welcome._

* * *

Eventually July rolls around, and with it, the last day of the term. Megumi's due date was three days ago, and he's been on edge ever since, waiting for the call to tell him she's finally gone into labour. He gets up Friday morning wondering if today will be the day, if his son will at last be born so that he can finally meet him. 

He goes through his usual morning routine to get ready for school, and he and his dad are just finishing up a quick breakfast when the phone rings. He looks at it nervously. 

"It's probably just Fuji TV," his dad says, "they were instructed to call me if there were any problems this morning." 

Yamato watches him as he goes to answer it. His dad's face is solemn, not giving anything away, and he listens for a few moments before saying, "Okay, thank you," and hanging up. 

His dad looks back at him. "It's time. Do you still want to go?" 

His heart skips a beat. _It's time!_ He nods nervously, his mouth suddenly feeling too dry to speak. 

"Okay, finish getting dressed while I call work and your school." 

He does so in a daze, absently putting their plates in the sink before heading down the hall to throw some clothes on. His mind is racing, wondering what's going to happen and what it's going to be like. He pulls on some black pants and a red-trimmed black shirt without really looking at them, then grabs the small bag he's had prepared for more than a week now. It's mostly things to do in case the wait is long, or he has to stay overnight for some reason, but right now he can't picture himself doing anything other than sitting and waiting anxiously until it's time for the delivery. 

Once he's dressed, he goes back out to the kitchen to listen while his dad explains the situation to work. "I understand that," his dad is saying, "but I told you weeks ago about this... Yes. Yes, I understand. It's already been approved." 

He shakes his head, and pulls out his cell to text Taichi. _It's time!! About to go to the hospital now. I'm nervous. Will update you._

A few minutes later, when his dad's finally convinced his work that he's not coming in and they're about to head out the door, his phone chimes with a reply. _It'll be fine! I'll come see you this afternoon! <3_

He smiles, slightly reassured, and follows his dad out. 

* * *

He's hovering in the corner of the delivery room, feeling somewhat nauseous and trying his best to keep out of the way. He's not sure now why he wanted to be present for this. After eleven hours of labour, Megumi's now spent the last hour pushing when told, and the baby's head has only recently started crowning. She's been screaming in pain throughout most of it, sweat pouring down her face, mingling with the involuntarily tears produced by such exertion. Her mom's up by her head, constantly wiping her face with a cloth and soothing her with encouraging words. 

His own parents are out in the waiting room, along with Taichi and Takeru. He sort of wishes one of them were in here with him. It feels like it's taking forever. He doesn't know what's normal. He's worried something may be going wrong. He watches her anxiously. 

When the doctor at last says, "We've got a healthy baby boy!" he nearly cries in relief. Less than a minute later all the worry completely leaves him when he hears his son crying for the first time. He looks on in amazement as the doctor clamps the umbilical cord, and then looks towards him. "Would you like to cut the cord?" he asks. 

Yamato looks at him hesitantly. "Me?" 

The doctor smiles and motions him over. He approaches and takes the scissors from him, and cuts where he's told. 

"Would you like to hold the baby now, Mom?" one of the nurses ask, and Megumi wearily shakes her head. The nurse looks at Yamato then, who nods. 

She puts the baby into his arms gently, and he looks down into his son's face for the first time with wonderment, his eyes a bit wet. "Hi Naoki," he says softly, a happy smile on his face. "Welcome to the world. I'm your daddy." He leans down and presses a gentle kiss to his son's forehead, right below the fuzzy little patch of dark hair. Looking at his son, he's caught off guard by the feeling of intense love, and an urge to protect him and never let any harm come to him. It's with great reluctance that he hands his baby back over to the nurses a few minutes later, so they can get measurements and do whatever else is needed. They assure him that Naoki will be in the nursery within the hour, and Yamato can come spend as much time as he likes with him. 

Feeling strangely empty now, he disposes of his scrubs and heads back out to the lobby where his family is waiting. They look at him anxiously when they catch sight of them, but he just smiles. "I'm a dad," he says, amazed, the reality of his son's birth suddenly hitting him. He has a son, he's a _dad_ now, his parents are now grandparents, his brother's an _uncle_. 

His parents' faces light up with joy, and Taichi rushes up to him, hugging him in excitement. He hugs him back, crying and laughing in sheer happiness and a bit of disbelief as well. "I'm a _dad_!" he repeats, and Taichi hugs him tighter. 

* * *

An hour and a half later, he and Taichi are looking at Naoki from the nursery window. His parents have taken an "I'm absolutely starving, Dad, completely _dying_!" Takeru to the cafeteria for some food. They'd offered to bring him and Taichi back something as well, but they've both declined, too excited still to think about eating right now. 

"He's so little," Taichi says, face and hands pressed up against the glass, looking in at Yamato's son. "And so... red, and wrinkly." He makes a face. 

Yamato grins, amused. "You looked like that once too, you know," he says. "He'll grow." 

"I hope so," Taichi says. He waves toward the infant. "Hi, baby Naoki." 

"You know he's asleep, right?" 

"I can still say hi," Taichi remarks, poking him in the side. They both watch him sleep a little longer, before Taichi asks, "Have you texted the others yet?" 

"No." He shakes his head. "I'll do that now. Let's go outside, though. Cell phones aren't allowed in here." 

Taichi grabs his hand, and they stroll outside. It's dark out by now, and though it's July, the night has a bit of an unusual chill to it. He shivers a little, prompting Taichi to let go of his hand and wrap an arm around his shoulders instead, pulling him in close. He smiles and leans in to the touch, pulling out his cell. He opens up the group text for all of the Chosen and starts punching in letters. _Naoki born two hours ago... 8lbs 2oz and 22 in!_

It doesn't take him long to get several excited texts back. Taichi laughs as his phone keeps chiming every few seconds. "They'll all be swarming the hospital tomorrow." 

"I hope not," he says, feeling alarmed at the thought. "They'd all want to hold him, and I'm sure he can't handle all that excitement yet." 

Taichi just laughs again, holding him closer. Yamato snuggles against him and thinks that the day couldn't be any more perfect right now. 

* * *

"Hard to believe something so small will eventually grow into a full-sized human," Taichi says. It's a little while later, and they're once more at the nursery, Taichi pressing his nose against the glass again, looking in at Naoki, amazement still on his face. Yamato's parents have come and gone several times. His dad cried upon seeing Naoki for the first time, which made him feel a little awkward. Now they're in the lobby, packing up and preparing to leave shortly. 

"Do you want to hold him?" Yamato asks his boyfriend. 

"Me?" Taichi returns, wide-eyed. 

"Of course you," he scoffs. "Who else?" 

"What if I drop him?" Taichi worries. 

"You won't," he tells him confidently. "Come on." He leads Taichi into the nursery and quickly gets the attention of a nurse, explaining what he wants. She leads them over to Naoki, and carefully picks him up, showing Taichi how to hold him before handing him over and walking off again. 

Taichi looks down at him in awe, staring wide-eyed at the tiny infant in his arms. "I'm actually holding him," he says in astonishment, and Yamato can't help but grin at him. "He seems even tinier close up," Taichi adds. "I didn't think noses and ears could be that small..." 

"It's actually his feeding time," the nurse remarks as she comes back with a bottle, glancing at Yamato. "Would you like to feed him?" 

He nods, and the nurse quickly shows him how after he takes Naoki back from Taichi. He watches with some surprise as the tiny mouth opens up, seeking for a moment before latching on to the nipple of the bottle. 

After Naoki's had his fill and has been put back down to sleep again, Yamato glances at a nearby clock and realises it's getting late. They head back out to the lobby, where Takeru and his mom are getting ready to leave. 

His mom comes over and gives him a hug goodbye, which he accepts without fussing for once. "I'm proud of you," she whispers to him. He pulls back and smiles at her. 

Takeru's next, hugging him fiercely with a tired smile on his face. "Even if you're a dad now, you're still my big brother," he says. 

"Always," Yamato reassures him. 

Once they're gone, he looks over at his boyfriend. "Need a ride home? Or..." he hesitates, glancing to his dad. "You could stay at mine tonight? If it's okay." 

His dad nods his agreement. "That's fine, if he doesn't mind coming back to the hospital with us in the morning. And provided there's no alcohol involved this time." 

Yamato rolls his eyes. "That'd hardly be responsible parenting on my first day as a dad." 

His dad and Taichi both just laugh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I stuck with American measurements for the baby. I tried to look up what Japan uses, but, well, numbers aren't my strong point. Forgive me :)


	9. New World

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last chapter may or may not be delayed. I'm going to be spending next Saturday driving for ten hours to Chicago for a concert on Sunday night, and I haven't decided yet if I want to try and get the chapter up Friday in between classes and packing, or just wait until the Saturday after.

"This is your new home, Naoki," Yamato whispers, stepping into the apartment with the small infant held in his arms. Naoki's sleeping, as he had done most of the ride home, but he knows that soon enough he'll have a fussy, constantly crying baby on his hands. He carries Naoki to his newly rearranged bedroom, where the crib has already been set up, waiting for the baby's arrival. He gently places his son down in it, the way he'd learned in one of the parenting classes.

He then spends the next week getting a crash course in sleep deprivation. His dad helps for an hour or two in the evenings when he's home from work, but during the day and at night Naoki is completely his responsibility. At night he has to get up every few hours to feed him, or change him, or soothe him, and it seems like by the time he's finally dropping off to sleep again, Naoki is once again crying. More than once he feels like just crying himself. He drinks a lot more coffee than is healthy just to stay awake. He can't imagine still having to do this once summer hols are over and he's back in school. He'll be a zombie walking through the hallways, and he definitely doesn't see how he'll have time for homework. He's glad the band's manager put them on a brief hiatus for a couple months once he found out Yamato was having a kid. 

"You focus on that kid the first few months," he'd said. "We'll make an announcement. Maybe do a photoshoot when you're ready to come back. Your fans will love it." 

He doesn't know that he wants Naoki's image used to promote the band, but for now he's just grateful for the reprieve. 

The second week he's given a bit of a break from the monotony of it all by his friends coming to visit Naoki, in small groups of two or three. Hikari and Takeru are first and, predictably, Hikari's got her camera. 

"Can I?" she asks, holding up the camera with a smile. 

"Sure," he says, giving her a tired smile in return. She gets plenty of shots, some of Naoki alone, some with him and Naoki, others with Takeru and Naoki, or the three of them, and a few with all four of them. 

"I get a copy of these, right?" he asks when she's at last satisfied. 

"Of course!" she says, and then coos at Naoki. "You're such a cutie-pie!" Naoki's too young to do much other than just blink at her, but she doesn't seem to mind. 

Yamato watches them leave miserably, resisting the urge to drag Takeru back and beg him to watch Naoki for a few hours while he sleeps. 

* * *

Mimi, Koushiro, and Jou are the next to visit, the next day. Jou keeps trying to give him all kinds of parenting tips, most of which Yamato has already heard before in one of the classes. Koushiro looks at him in the crib and then starts spouting off statistics about SIDS, which makes Yamato's heart lurch with fear until Mimi clamps a hand over his mouth and hisses something too low for Yamato to hear. After that Koushiro's mostly quiet, while Mimi goes through half of Naoki's clothes, exclaiming over how cute they all are. 

"Mimi, you were right there with me when we bought them," he tells her, exasperated. 

"I know, but it's been a few months now! I've forgotten what half of them look like. Ooh, this one is so cute!" she squeals, holding up a little light blue onesie with cute cartoon elephants printed all over it. 

"You were the one that picked it out..." he sighs. 

"Clearly I have good taste," she says, her tone slightly smug. 

"You do," he says, too tired to banter with her. 

"If you're really tired, you should try sleeping when the baby sleeps," Jou says, and Yamato just stares at him. That might just be the worst advice Jou's said yet. "Err, or not..." He scratches at his blue hair, looking uncomfortable. 

As exhausted as he is, he's actually glad when the three of them finally leave. 

* * *

Sora and Taichi are a welcome distraction the day after next. 

"He looks so sweet!" Sora exclaims, peering down at Naoki. Yamato's currently got him nestled in his arms, sitting with him in his dad's recliner. 

"You should see him when he cries," Yamato grumbles at her. "You wanna hold him?" 

"You don't mind?" 

"No. Here, hold him just like I am... yeah, like that." 

"He's heavier than I thought he would be," she says, smiling at the baby now in her arms. 

"He lost a bit of weight after being born, but he's a few ounces heavier than his birth weight now. The doctor says eventually the formula will make him start gaining faster in a few months." 

"So you're going to have a fat baby?" Taichi asks in a teasing tone. 

Yamato frowns. "Don't call my baby fat," he says defensively, and Taichi raises an eyebrow. 

"Woah, I was just teasing." He gets off the sofa, then comes over and gives Yamato an apologetic kiss, which Yamato accepts happily. After a moment Sora clears her throat, and they break apart sheepishly. 

"Sorry," they mumble in unison, and she laughs before handing Naoki back over. 

* * *

Daisuke, Ken, and Iori are the last of the Chosen to visit. 

"Miyako wanted to come too, but she couldn't get out of helping at her family's mart," Ken explains in his soft voice. Though he wishes Ken would be a little less shy around him, it's infinitely preferable to the arrogance and cruelty he'd displayed as the Kaiser. 

"Is this the baby?!" Daisuke asks in a loud, excited voice as he spots the swaddle blanket around the bundle in Yamato's arms. 

Naoki, startled by the loud noise, wakes up and begins to wail. 

"Daisuke! I just got him back to sleep," Yamato moans. 

"Oops," Daisuke says, abashed. "Sorry, Yamato." 

"Just... try to be quiet around him, as a general rule," he says, sighing. He begins to rock the newborn gently in his arms, trying to soothe him back to sleep. 

"Does he cry a lot?" Iori asks curiously. 

"Yes. Word of advice: don't ever have kids too young. Or maybe just ever," Yamato tells them, grinning. 

"You don't want him?" Ken asks. 

"No, I very much want him," Yamato says, smiling down at his son. "He's just a lot of hard work. I wouldn't recommend a baby until you're ready. But he's worth it." 

* * *

At last his bandmates come over. 

"This is our new mascot?" Kenji asks, grinning as he looks down into Naoki's sleeping face. 

Yamato rolls his eyes. "We are _not_ using my newborn son for our mascot," he says. 

"Daichi will probably try, you realise," Ny says, taking a seat on the end of Yamato's bed. He looks around the bedroom curiously, making a face at how much more cramped it is now with all of the baby's things in it. 

"Well Daichi can go stuff it," Yamato replies hotly. "I'm not using Naoki and having his face plastered all over magazines just so we can sell a few more CDs and _maybe_ go major a little sooner." 

"Hey, I didn't say I approved!" Ny says quickly, holding up his hands. "Don't take my head off." 

He backs off, blushing and feeling his face heat up in embarrassment. "Sorry." 

"It's fine." Ny waves it away. "I'm sure it's just the lack of sleep talking." 

Yamato scratches at his head sheepishly. "Maybe." 

"How desperate have you gotten yet?" Ratsuii asks, with a knowing smirk. 

"...I'll pay you 10,000 yen if you'll take him tonight," Yamato offers in a pleading tone. 

Ratsuii laughs. "Not a chance." 

"Then you suck," he promptly declares, while the other two look on in amusement. 

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it." 

"The baby or how much you suck?" 

"Both," Ratz replies with a mischievous grin. 

* * *

Eventually his dad takes pity on him, and offers to get up one night with Naoki while Yamato gets a chance to catch up on sleep. They swap rooms, his dad looking a little uncomfortable on his smaller full-size bed. However, he finds that even in just two weeks he's already become attuned to his son's cries, and still wakes up every time he hears Naoki let out even the tiniest of wails. Consequently, he's still pretty grumpy when he gets up the next morning. 

"That didn't help at all," he complains to his dad while feeding Naoki a bottle. "Every time he cried, I still woke up!" 

His dad raises his eyebrows at him, sipping at his coffee to help chase away the shadows under his eyes. "Makes you think twice about condoms, huh?" 

"I was drunk!" 

"Keep clinging to that, but it's not really a valid excuse. You could have just as equally made the choice not to get drunk," his dad points out. 

He doesn't have a good answer to that, so he decides not to say anything, focusing on feeding Naoki instead, burping him when he's finished. 

"Instead of sulking in here, why not take Naoki and go out for a few hours? It's a nice day out, you could go the park." 

"Maybe..." he mutters. 

* * *

"Aren't we just going to the park?" Taichi asks, watching him as he packs Naoki's diaper bag. He's got several diapers, a few travel packs of baby wipes, a couple of changing pads, a change of clothes, an extra swaddle blanket, hand sanitiser, and Naoki's formula so far, and he's still adding things. 

"Yeah," he says, spotting the diaper rash cream and throwing that in just in case. 

Taichi watches him for another moment. "Remind me not to have kids." 

Yamato grins. 

When they reach the park, they spot a vendor selling ice cream and Taichi immediately makes a beeline for it. Yamato follows after him at a more leisurely pace. He's got Naoki in a hands-free carrier, but he knows the infant will still feel heavy after awhile, and doesn't want to tire himself out too fast. Once they've got their frozen treats, they stroll around the park, linking their free hands together. His dad was right—it is a nice day out. Warm, but with a breeze coming in from the bay that keeps the temperature from being too hot. It's also sunny, which is a welcome break from all the usual summer rain. 

"So is it bad?" Taichi asks as they walk. 

"What?" Some of his ice cream begins to drip down the side of the cone, and he quickly raises it and licks it off, lest it get on Naoki. 

"Taking care of a baby. Being a dad," Taichi says, gesturing to his son. 

"Oh. Well, I wouldn't have _chosen_ to do it now," Yamato says wryly, "but it's not really _bad_ , exactly. Just really, really exhausting. I haven't gotten a full night's sleep since the day I brought him home from the hospital." 

"When do you have to stop waking up to feed him and everything?" 

"The books my dad bought me said he can start sleeping through the night anywhere from four to six months." 

Taichi actually stops in his tracks, ice cream momentarily forgotten. "That long?!" 

Yamato stumbles a bit as his hand is abruptly jerked backwards from Taichi's sudden halt. The diaper bag hung over his shoulder swings around, banging into his hip. "Hey, careful!" he exclaims, frowning back at his boyfriend. "And yes, that long," he adds. "I'm hoping it's closer to the four month mark than the sixth month... this is gonna suck when the new school term starts." 

"Would you have waited, you know, if you'd had a choice?" 

He doesn't have to contemplate that one. "No," he says, shaking his head firmly. "Because then whatever kid I had in the future wouldn't be Naoki, and I wouldn't give him up for anything in the world." 

* * *

In what feels like no time at all, the summer hols quickly come to an end, and Yamato finds himself in front of the door to the Izumi house the morning of the first day of the new term, diaper bag slung over his shoulder and Naoki cradled in his arms. When he'd been lamenting over not being able to find a babysitter to his friends one day during the summer, it had been Koushiro, oddly enough, who'd said that his mom was feeling at loose ends after losing her job, and probably wouldn't mind helping with Naoki. He'd been hesitant, but sure enough, when he'd asked her, she was very enthusiastic about the idea. 

He knocks, and after being greeted warmly by Mrs. Izumi, steps into the house. Koushiro's in the kitchen finishing up breakfast, and he calls out a greeting, which Yamato returns. 

He begins to go over things with Mrs. Izumi, who's admiring Naoki. "He's only six weeks, so he's still only just beginning to settle into a routine," he tells her. "I wrote down for you when he's generally hungry, when he usually sleeps, et cetera, but don't worry if he doesn't stick to it. I'm sure you've had plenty of experience with Koushiro." It's weird to imagine his friend being a baby little enough to need feedings and diaper changes. He quickly changes the subject. "I tried to put plenty of extra stuff in his diaper bag, hopefully you should have no problems." 

Mrs. Izumi smiles at him. "I'm sure everything will be fine." 

"I wrote down both of my parents' numbers in case there are any problems," he says, handing her a slip of paper. "It has both their cell and office numbers. They'll be faster to reach than trying to get me through the school." 

For six weeks, all he's wanted is a break, but now that it's here, he finds he's strangely reluctant to leave his son. He sighs. "I guess I should get going before I'm late." He hands Naoki over to Mrs. Izumi, feeling an ache when his arms are empty. 

"It's hard leaving them for the first time, isn't it?" she says sympathetically. "Don't worry, I'll take good care of him." 

"I guess it is," he admits. He leans over and lands a kiss on Naoki's forehead. "Be good," he tells the baby. "Don't give Mrs. Izumi any trouble." 

Koushiro comes into the hallway then, dressed in his light blue uniform and his bookbag strapped over his shoulders. "Ready?" he asks Yamato. 

Yamato nods, and after one last good bye to Naoki, they leave. 

* * *

School's been back in session for three weeks now, and Yamato's exhausted. Between school during the day and staying up with Naoki most of the night, he hardly ever gets any sleep. His dad still helps out in the evening for a couple of hours, but Yamato always winds up using that time for homework, and can never get a nap in though he usually struggles desperately to stay awake. More than once he's gotten in trouble at school with his teachers for accidentally falling asleep in class. Taichi usually tries to nudge him awake before he's caught, but he's not always successful. 

He's starting to doubt himself. He knows that Ratsuii said he would, and it was normal, but... he doesn't know how much more he can take. It feels like all Naoki ever does is cry, and eat, and need to be changed. It makes him cranky, and he always seems irritable. He's started getting a bit snappy with some of his friends, even though he doesn't mean to. He just wants a little time to himself, and a decent night's sleep for once. Is that really so much to ask? 

He can't help but feel like it would be easier if Naoki were like the babies he'd always see on television... babies that laugh and smile and play. He had no ideas babies didn't do that in the first few months of their lives. Right now Naoki seems to give no sign that he recognises him as his dad, and even if it's normal, Yamato finds it still hurts a little. 

At last, one Saturday his dad agrees to watch Naoki for a few hours while he goes out on a date with Taichi. Their last few 'dates' have just been short outings in which he had to take Naoki along, so he's really looking forward to it being just the two of them, alone. They spend the date on the Tokyo mainland, just running around the city and having a good time. At one point they find a secluded spot somewhere and spend some quality time making out—that's his favourite part. 

He gets back home exhausted but happy, greeting his dad with a smile on his face. "I'm home," he says, hanging up his jacket. 

"Welcome home," his dad says. "Have a good time?" 

"Yeah. We ran around Tokyo, did date-y things, you know, the usual." 

"Uh-huh," his dad says in a knowing tone. "I do know." 

He colours. "Naoki asleep?" he asks, changing the subject. 

His dad shakes his head. "He's in the crib, but he's being stubborn today. Won't sleep no matter how much I try to get him to. I think he misses you." 

"I'm not sure he even _knows_ me yet," Yamato grumbles, but he heads down the hall to check on his son. He flips on the light and peeks into the crib, expecting to see Naoki lying there, hopefully asleep, but instead he finds something much better. 

Naoki _is_ lying there, but he's very much awake, and when he catches sight of Yamato's face, he lights up into a wide, happy smile. 

Yamato's eyes widen, and then he smiles back. "Dad!" he yells, beyond excited. "He just smiled! Naoki just smiled at me! It's his first smile!" He laughs in pure joy. Finally seeing Naoki's beautiful smile has just made the last two months worth it. 

* * *

Luckily, Naoki does indeed begin sleeping through the night around the four month mark. The first day Yamato wakes up in the morning for school and realises he's slept through the night without once being woken by shrill cries, he actually cries himself in relief. There's been several times over the last few months that he felt sure this day would never come. 

A lazy Sunday afternoon finds him at the park with Naoki and the older Chosen: Taichi, Mimi, Koushiro, Jou, and Sora. They're not doing much, mostly just hanging out and talking, having a good time and enjoying the last of the fall weather before it gets too cold to go out. He's in a much better frame of mind, a week of a full night's sleep doing wonders for him. He and Mimi are taking turns playing peek-a-boo with Naoki, while Jou occasionally hovers over their shoulders, making funny faces. Naoki smiles a lot at all three of them, clearly enjoying the games. 

A sudden noise has all of them shutting up and looking at each other in amazement. "Did he just..." Taichi asks hesitantly. 

"He laughed!" Yamato exclaims, laughing himself. "He's never laughed before!" 

"That's amazing," Sora remarks, smiling. 

"Here, see if he does it again!" Mimi cries excitedly. She covers her faces with her hands, and then quickly moves them away, revealing her face again. "Peek-a-boo!" 

Naoki smiles and lets out a happy little burble. 

"He did! He's laughing!" Jou says. He makes another funny face at the baby, who laughs a third time. 

They spend the rest of the afternoon taking turns making Naoki laugh, until he's completely worn out and falls fast asleep. Yamato lifts him gently from Sora's lap, hushing him when he wakes up and fusses a bit, and manages to get him back in the hands-free carrier he's still got strapped to himself. Naoki quickly settles back down into sleep again. 

"I'll see you guys at school tomorrow?" he says. 

They all nod. "Yeah, see you!" 

"Bye, Yamato!" 

"Bye!" 

"I'll see you in the morning," Koushiro says. 

Taichi gets up, dusting himself off and separating from the others. "I'll walk home with you," he says. 

"Okay." Yamato smiles at him and hoists the diaper bag over his shoulder. Taichi grabs his hand, and they set off for home.


	10. It's the End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter isn't really the best (it's not bad, I just struggled with ending it well), and I didn't want to make you guys wait two weeks for it, and I have some time before my trip, so here it is. The final chapter. And to remind everyone, there will be a sequel soon! It's tentatively titled Endless Skies, and I hope to start posting it the first weekend in November, or possibly a little after. It'll be my NaNoWriMo project, which means it'll be at least 50K words, and it'll follow Yamato and Taichi through the first year of college and all the challenges that will bring. You'll get to see more of Naoki, and their relationship. So look for it soon!
> 
> Thanks to everyone that's been reading, bookmarking, and leaving kudos for this fic! I had a lot of fun writing it, and honestly it helped get me through a bad breakup, so there's that. Hope you all enjoy!

Naoki begins teething sometime in the middle of February. Yamato feels like he's back in the first weeks of Naoki's life, with the baby constantly crying and him having no clue how to stop it.

"Do all babies cry this much during teething?" he asks with some aggravation as he wipes away yet more drool from Naoki's mouth. 

His dad's seated at the kitchen table, half-asleep and almost falling into his breakfast. He jerks his head up at Yamato's question. "Huh?" 

Yamato sighs and repeats the question as he rubs his finger gently over Naoki's gums, trying to soothe him. He wonders if the teething ring is chilled yet. 

"Ah," his dad says, sitting up and trying to look more alert. "Well, not all children. Takeru barely fussed at all when his teeth were coming in. I'd say Naoki takes after his daddy." He smirks a bit at Yamato. 

Yamato just rolls his eyes. "Of course he would." 

"He seems to be even fussier than you were, though. If he doesn't settle down soon, you might want to call his doctor and see if you can give him some children's paracetamol, and how much." 

He goes over to the fridge, still holding Naoki, and manages to pull it open, feeling the teething ring. It feels cold, so he pulls it out and hands it to Naoki, who immediately begins chomping down on it. Yamato feels hopeful that he'll settle down, but a few minutes later Naoki moves the ring away and begins fussing again, clearly getting ready for a cry. 

Yamato sighs. "I'll call the doctor." 

* * *

"You look like hell," Taichi remarks the next day. 

Yamato takes his seat with a groan, pulling out his books for their first class before collapsing on top of them, burying his head in his arms. "Naoki's teething," he says, voice slightly muffled. 

Ratsuii immediately looks sympathetic. "Oh, I bet that's fun," he says. 

Yamato just groans again. 

"What's so bad about teething?" Taichi asks, confusion in his face. 

"It usually hurts," Ratsuii explains. "It often makes babies fussy." 

"Naoki's worse than most babies, apparently," Yamato explains as he lifts his head. "I had to call his pediatrician yesterday so I could give him some painkillers, and if he's still crying this afternoon, I'm supposed to bring in him to be looked over." He sighs. "I felt bad leaving him with Mrs. Izumi this morning." 

"I'm sure she can handle it," Taichi says. "She did raise Koushiro, after all." 

Yamato smirks. "I'm going to tell him you said that." 

"Wha—no! I didn't mean it like that!" Taichi cries, swatting at him. 

Yamato just laughs. 

* * *

Thankfully Naoki's a lot less fussy when Yamato picks him up after school. He even smiles when he catches sight of his dad, and Yamato winces at the drool that slips out of his mouth and down the front of his onesie. He can't wait until that particular side-effect stops. 

"Thank you," Yamato says, taking him from Mrs. Izumi. "Sorry if he was a lot of trouble today." 

"Oh, Koushiro was a fussy baby too. It was no trouble." 

"Same time tomorrow?" he asks, shouldering the diaper bag. 

"Of course. Have a good day, Yamato," she says, smiling at him. 

"Thanks, you too. Goodbye," he tells her, starting off down the walk. 

He sets up Naoki in his playpen when he gets home, and settles down in the living room to do his homework while keeping an eye on him. Naoki is thankfully quiet most of the time, content to alternate between chewing on his teething ring and chewing on his stuffed elephant. He's nearly finished his homework when his dad comes home from work a few hours later. 

"I'm home," his dad announces as he comes in the door, hanging up his jacket and keys. 

"Welcome home," he mumbles, neatly printing the last line of characters down his page. He shuts his book and looks up. 

His dad eyes Naoki. "He's a lot quieter today." 

Yamato nods. "He was like this when I picked him up from Mrs. Izumi this afternoon. She must have used some kind of voodoo magic. I'll have to see if she can tell me the ritual tomorrow." 

His dad laughs, settling into his recliner with a groan. "I'll keep an eye on him if you have anything you need to do." 

"I can make dinner, if you'd like," he offers. 

"Sounds good." 

He nods and gets up, walking over to the playpen to check on Naoki first. He notices some drool again, and leans down to wipe it away with the towel he keeps draped over the edge for just that purpose. As he does, something catches his eye. "No wonder you've quieted down so much," he mutters to the baby. 

"What's that?" His dad looks up from the news program he's already turned on. 

He bends down, picking Naoki up and carrying him over to his dad. "Look," he says, pointing to Naoki's mouth. "His tooth finally broke through." He grins. "Maybe now we can get some sleep again." 

"At least until the next round starts up," his dad agrees. 

He makes a pained face at the thought. _Hopefully not for a while_ , he thinks. 

* * *

The next month is rough as he's preparing for the end of the term and for his final year in high school to start in a few weeks. He's also got entrance exams for university to start worrying about. Initially, he hadn't planned on going, wanting to focus on just the band, but his dad had talked him into it a few months ago, telling him he'd need something to fall back on so he could still support Naoki, in case the band didn't work out. He doesn't think that'll happen, but he sees the wisdom in what his dad was saying. 

The band has also started up again, going off their hiatus shortly after Naoki got his first tooth. Yamato had to threaten to break both of Daichi's arms off if he tried to take any pictures of Naoki, but Daichi hasn't brought up Naoki since. He's missed singing and playing his guitar, and hanging out with the band after school in band room 3, but the timing of it is unfortunate, because it's just more stress at an already stressful time. 

He also has even less time to fit in dates with Taichi, a fact that makes them both grumpy. They're taking what little quality time they can get by studying in the afternoons together at his apartment. More than a few of those study sessions have turned into make-out sessions, but there's little time for anything beyond that. 

He perseveres, though, knowing it's worth it, and eventually he's waving bye to Taichi on the last day of the term, before splitting off and going into his own apartment to collapse. His dad's home, having taken a personal day off. 

"I see you made it," his dad remarks, grinning as he practically falls into the sofa. 

He lets out a groan. He's completely exhausted from all of his exams, and all of the cramming he had to do for them. Now he just wants to curl up on his bed and sleep for a week and ignore everyone and everything. 

"Don't forget Takeru's coming over in a bit," his dad reminds him. 

He groans again, before flipping over and burying his face into the sofa cushions. "Can't he come over some other time?" he whines, voice muffled. 

His dad understands him anyway. "No. He hasn't seen Naoki or you in nearly a month now, since you've been so busy. He's excited." 

"Ugh. Fine," he says, dragging out the words as he lifts his head up. "Can I at least nap first?" 

"I think you've earned at least that much," his dad says with a laugh. "Go on, I'll wake you in an hour or so." 

* * *

Naoki's first birthday eventually arrives. Yamato is fine with just a small celebration with his family, but Mimi insists on making a big deal out of it. "It's what they do in America!" she says excitedly. 

"This isn't America," he protests, but then Koushiro of all people gets on board, and he gives up and lets them arrange a party. 

Yamato's apartment is too small to comfortably fit the amount of people they want to have, so they hold the party at Koushiro's house, with his parents' blessing. Yamato doesn't really mind, and at least Naoki is familiar with the house. He's also glad Naoki's birthday falls on a weekend, so they don't have to worry about arranging it around everyone's school and work schedules. 

He arrives on the day of the party early, to help Koushiro and Mimi set up. Mimi's insisted on throwing it "just like an American party!" so soon they have the house looking festive, with light blue, yellow, and lime green balloons and streamers everywhere, and a custom banner that spells out "Happy Birthday Naoki!" hanging over the high chair. Folding tables have been set up nearby with matching paper tablecloths draped over them, one for presents and the other laid out with snacks and drinks. 

The whole thing makes Yamato slightly uncomfortable. It feels so... lavish. Still, several of his other friends are clearly excited, so he doesn't say anything. 

Shortly after finishing the decorations, all his friends and family begin arriving, and soon the still-empty folding table is piled high with presents. An hour later, everyone's laughing and having a good time. Even Naoki, who's too young to understand what's going on still, is laughing and smiling, enjoying all the attention everyone's giving him. He hasn't said any actual words yet, but he's been babbling a lot over the last month or so, and Yamato feels he'll probably speak soon. He's also been making efforts to walk, using whatever furniture he can find for support, and his friends having been taking bets on whether he'll talk or walk unsupported first. 

Later, they stick Naoki in the high chair and dim the lights, singing happy birthday to him. He looks around at them all, face beaming with his toothy smile. Yamato sticks a small piece of cake in front of him, and he reaches down to grab a messy fistful, stuffing it in his mouth, babbling happily. Hikari's constantly taking pictures, and Yamato knows he'll be requesting them later. He has to admit the party isn't _that_ bad. Though he still wants just a small family gathering for Naoki's second birthday. 

Naoki finishes the cake, and Yamato leans in to wipe his mouth, smiling. "Was that good, Naoki?" he asks. "Did Daddy get you a good piece of cake?" 

Naoki laughs. "Daddy!" he says joyfully. 

Yamato pauses in wiping at his face, eyes wide. Behind him, the room falls silent as people begin realising what just happened. After a moment, he smiles, feeling his heart swell. His son said his first word, and it was 'daddy!' "That's right Naoki," he says, and hopes no one comments on the slight tremble in his voice. "I'm Daddy." 

His friends and family start talking and laughing again, all of them excited over Naoki's first word, and he hears a few rustles and jingles that indicate money is changing hands—clearly the bet losers paying up. He rolls his eyes. 

Naoki claps his hands together, smiling at him. "Daddy!" he repeats, and Yamato scoops him up from the high chair, hugging him tight. 

"Yeah Naoki," he says, running his fingers through his son's soft blond hair. "I'm your daddy, and I'm so glad you're in my life."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I ever mention that I wrote this entire fic while listening to the TV version of Boku ni Totte, the third ending for Tri? Listenonrepeat says I played the PV 2149 times, haha. Oh, and doing research online, it seems birthdays aren't typically a big deal in Japan, though of course every family is different. But up until around the 1940s or 50s, people in Japan all shared the same birthday—the start of the New Year.


End file.
